Rollcage and Accelerator problem

[SADLOTUS]

I have a question for those of you that have a Tony Thompson rollcage and side bars. When the drivers side front crossbar that goes between the side bar and the chassis is fitted, the accelerator hits the bar when fully down - the accelerator won't reach the bulkhead.

I can't remember how far down the pedal goes for full open carbs. Anyone else had this problem? Did the pedal miss? Does the pedal not reach the bar? Did you trim/cut the pedal? If it misses, does your foot roll over the crossbar at full throttle?

Bear in mind that I havn't driven my car for a while and I'm not likely to either as it's going through a faily comprehensive restoration at the moment, so no engine and no carbs in car.

Just swept up the paint off the garage floor - two full carrier bags for half the car and the boot, seven coats including two filler coats!

[Old English White]

Hi Sadlotus ,
As you now , or not , I put a TTR-Safety Devices cage in "Old EnglishWhite" this spring (see previous post in racing section)... but not the side bars yet ... holes are made , but had to do choices to be ready for Le Mans ... but , normaly , the throttle pedal has a screw to adjust "full" at pedal and "full" at the carbs ... if missing this could badly bend and damage linkage and carbs ...
The racer's will answer soon , wait a minute !
Christian.

[SADLOTUS]

A pic of the problem, please ignore all the dust and the (ahem) holes in the accelerator pedal

[john.p.clegg]

You could kill two birds with one stone by lightening the accelerator peddle a little more by removing the bottom half inch....

John

[bill308]

You could also knotch the sill a little to allow the front end of the side intrusion bar to drop in the area of the clamp.

Bill

[Schrodinger]

Hi, I have TT roll/sidebars and have never found a problem with the accelerator pedal. I've just popped out to check and the pedal clears the bar by about half an inch. To the best of my knowledge the pedal wasn't trimmed when the bars were fitted either.

[SADLOTUS]

Thanks for looking Schrodinger, I reckon that this could be due to the inexact fixing of the bobbins at Lotus, If they were an inch further back I think there'd be clearance.


john.p.clegg: I think I'll hack that 1/2 inch off the bottom, the weight saving would mean i can have an extra two chips at tea time! WOOHOO!!

[bill308]

I'm in the process of fitting an SD roll bar to my S2 and I find exactly the same problem as SADLOTUS had, the front intrusion bar fouls the bottom of the accellerator pedal. It seems the only real solution is to trim the bottom of the accellerator pedal to provide clearance. SADLOTUS, is this what you did?

Assuming you trimmed the bottom of the accellerator pedal, any other issues with this modification?

The Spyder intrusion bars that I removed didn't have this issue as the clamping arrangement to the side intrusion bar was by upper and lower welded on flanges that were then bolted through the side intrusion bar.

I think the SD, front to side intrusion joint, is probably a little more rigid than the Spyder joint as the single through bolt of the Spyder arrangement couldn't resist rotation if the roll hoop or its joint with the side intrusion bar were comprimised. The clamping arrangement of the SD joint would provide a rotational constraint.

Bill

[SADLOTUS]

Hi Bill
Yes I took the accelerator pedal off and sawed a half inch off the bottom. This seemed to cure the problem and the pedal could then swing it's full arc. Engine not in yet and cables not connected (only got the car back from the painter's a coupla hours ago Yippee!!) so not sure if this is a success yet. It looks to me like my foot may have to roll over the bar for fully flat down...but as I say, yet to see.

If I remember, adjusting the small cross bar up or down or back or forwards made little difference because when fully bolted up tight it pulled into the one fixed position.

If I have time and remember, I'll ring TTR - if he's not in Spain!

[bill308]

Many thanks SADLOTUS.

I had no issue with the Spyder front intrusion bar. It was low and forward enough to never even get scuffed.

For the SD front intrusion bar, I'll try to keep it as far foward as possible. Height seems dictated by the outboard clamping arrangement.

Bill