throttle pedal

[Thigh19]

I bought one of those cheap, I mean inexpensive speedway spoon throttle pedal assemblies. What a piece of....I mean it doesn't meet my needs.
So I've decided to build my own. A piece of 1/4 inch rod, bent in the right places, ad a couple pillow blocks, drill a couple holes, weld on a spoon, and I'll have it.
My question is do I need to temper it or harden it to keep it from bending and hold it's shape?
Any help or tips will be appreciated.

 

[Bonehead]

Depends on what you are making it out of. But to temper steel, you heat it to a yellow orange, I use a forge, then quench it in oil, (or water). The oil will burst into flames so be very careful. Use as little oil as you can to avoid a big fire. Water works as well. The heat should be steady for a long period of time. With the right forge, you could heat it for an hour, then quench it. After it cools all the way down to room temperature, reheat to a dark shade or orange just above the color of raw steel. then let it cool on it's own.

 

[donsrods]

IMO 1/4 inch is too thin, it will bend when you stomp on it, especially with a couple of stiff springs on the carb. What SW one did you buy because I have used several of theirs that have the indexing notches on them and they work great and hold up well.

Here is the one we are using from SW. I have one on my 27, one on my Son's rpu, one on my other Son's T bucket, had one on my 23, and am now using one on my new rpu. Never had a problem with any of them.





http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedway-Hot-Rod-Pedal-Scalloped-Arm,1144.html



Don

 

[RustyNCA]

I'm with Don on this one, my brother picked one up for his 34 Dodge and it works really nice. The problem we ran into.... the firewall was moving on us.

I ran a bell crank setup with an old racing go kart pedal attached to it. It is mounted to the steering col on a mount that we have stiffened up twice now. So I also agree with Don, there is no way 1/4 will hold, we started thicker than that thinking it was enough and it wasn't.

 

[BillM]

I'm confused as well....I bought one of those "SW" pedal assemblies for my Graham, and it was just fine. For the money? I think it's perfect....I would have screwed around for hours making up something from scratch.....and I don't have enough time to work on my car now! Lol.

IMO 1/4" is too light. Factory setups all seem to be at least 5/16", and stiff as hell. Tear into one with a hacksaw and see how you make out.....

 

[Old Iron]

I'm also using a SW style throttle pedal with no problems.
It also allows a lot more room than some others I've used and flexibility with the spline adjustment.
1/4" is too small as BillM said, 5/16" rod diameter will work fine.

 

[Thigh19]

OK. I'm convinced....kinda
I went to the local scrap yard and pulled one out of a f's jeep. Using a cable from a mid 70 cj5 6 cylinder. All seems to be working out now.
Thanx for all the input guys.

 

[cosmic12]

I made one from a old Lugwig bass drum peddle (Speed King) and the linkage from the 65 Malibu that I am working on for my 52. Works great and took about 20mins.