Sullivan Aluminium Pedals

[PeteInCT]

I just started installing a set of billet pedals from Sullivan. Made well, will take a little work to get them all installed but I have the most important one on for me, makes heel/toe so much easier.

The install for the gas pedal is the easiest since you can take out the pedal assembly easily (3 nuts) and do the work on a bench. The stock pedal is in two pieces held by one star-head screw. Take that off and your left with a nice flat plastic surface to mount the new pedal on. I used one supplied screw with locking nut and 3 self tapping screws. The original pedal can be reinstalled at any time with no one the wiser.

 

[cloud9]

Hmm I might need one of those gas pedals.

 

[PeteInCT]

Now there's a shocker !!!! ;D

(I'm not tellin' you about any of my mods anymore, you won't let me catch up !)

 

[908ssp]

Great project if you want to do it yourself.

 

[steveespo]

I have them in a virtual shopping cart right now too. Nice find Pete.
Steve

 

[fuhrius]

I had a set in my last car and ordered a set for the boss over6 months ago...they're still sitting in the garage awaiting install because I know the brake / clutch are gonna be a huge pain. the SPR pedals are awesome...from my perspective, the gas pedal is nice, but the brake pedal is the best one to have upgraded since my foot tends to roll / slide off the rounded side on the stock pedal. I've also found, in past cars, that I really prefer a non-grid gas pedal (completely smooth / flat)...makes the roll of the foot for throttle blipping even smoother. something to think about when ordering.

 

[PeteInCT]

It was a PITA. There's not much flat flange to bolt to on the brake so you need to position it carefully. For the drilling, I found if I used a dremel tool with a small round excavator bit (looks like a dentist drill bit) you can make a pilot mark deep enough to drill with without slipping. For the gas pedal I just took it out of the car to work on which made it easier. For my clutch, I have a Bondo clutch pedal extension, so mounting it to that (which is plastic) was easy.

Here they are all installed:

 

[VoodooBoss]

Looks good. One of these days I'm going to do this but my size 13's hit the gas pedal even when I don't want them too. ;D An instructor I had suggested getting a gas pedal that was smooth so your foot slides off it easier. That seems to make sense but I'm not sure it's necessary. A local Boss owner to me got a wider brake pedal instead of a wider gas pedal and he left foot brakes for trail braking. So his pedal is 1/2" wider on either side.

 

[PeteInCT]

Wider brake makes sense too if you are OK moving your normal foot position on the brake pedal. That was my issue with heel/toe, the car in stock form is set up well IMO for heel/toe, but it meant I needed to change my foot position style on the brake. With these I don't have to. I also seem to like the traction surface also, but this is really TBD till I get it out on the track.

 

[ace72ace]

So we can see one half of the friction surface here... What about the other half, track shoes, or whatever works best with this kind of setup? Should that question be posed in a separate, but related thread?

 

[CaliMR]

ace, if you have really wide feet and are having difficulty hitting one pedal at a time (4E and I do with my street shoes), then a set of driving shoes or even the cheapo Pumas that look like driving shoes can help a lot. I could not put my foot on just the brake pedal in my old car in my street shoes, so I had a pair of Pumas I kept in the car and some Simpsons for the track. This car is not as bad imo but it is still better driving with the Pumas than with street shoes. I also like the thin soles so I can feel the pedals and use my toes on the brakes without sliding like with thick soled, numb shoes and the heel is round for when I feel like driving lazy with my foot on the floor. The stock pedals seemed fine to me at the track with the Simpsons, but I might get the clutch extender and the rubber pads on the pedals seem to hurt more than help. Maybe I need some suede bottomed shoes. Not sure that answered your question at all, but I have found the Puma non-FIA (ie non-fire rated) driving shoes for as low as $20 so they might be worth trying if you are having issues with the pedals. A lot cheaper than new pedals.

 

[Boss_302]

Here's a picture of mine installed

 

[ace72ace]

Very nice! I was thinking of that exact same combo. How long was the install? Any special tools required, or tips you can offer?

 

[PeteInCT]

It took me almost 3 hrs total and my clutch was easy because of the Bondo pedal extension. Without the technique using the Dremel I would not been able to drill into the metal backing plates, there is little room for s drill and the angle of the bit is critical else it just slips off and misses your mark.

 

[ace72ace]

3 hours, damn... How are the stock pedals (brake/clutch as you already described gas) attached? Do the Sullivans come with all required hardware for all pedals?

 

[PeteInCT]

The kit comes with 8 self tapping sheet metal screws and 6 machine screws with locking nuts. I've found I needed more than that so I used some of my own.

Dead Man's Pedal: I just used 1 1/4" galvanized close theaded sheet rock screws. They bite into the carpet and the underlying insulation pretty well and actually can be turned pretty tight. I did not want to go into the floorboards on this. So far it's very solid and it seems like it will hold up. Another option would be to use machine screws/nuts with backing washers (1" maybe) and just clamp it to the carpet only.

Clutch Pedal: This was easy for me becuase I have the Bondo pedal extension (which works great for me). I removed the stock pedal facing and used 3 of the supplied sheet metal screws directly into the plastic pedal extension with small pilot holes drilled first.

Brake Pedal: This is where all the time was spent. The backing of the brake pedal is all metal (as is the clutch actually) and you need to drill into the backing plate and use machine screws/nuts to fasten it. I used 3. There is little 'meat' to drill into that is acceptable for screws/nuts, becuase most of the rear of the pedal backing plate is the pedal arm itself and you need flat surfaced on both sides for the machine screws. Lining this all up isn't that simple of a task and you really only get one chance at drilling the holes correctly. Drilling the holes is very difficult because of the angle of the pedal and the limited space for a drill under the dash. If I was to do this again I'd open up one of the brake bleeders, depress the brake pedal all the way and put a piece of wood in place to hold the pedal down while I drilled. That probably would have made it a lot easier. I used a Dremel tool with a ball point bit, this allowed me to make a decently mark with some depth to it as if I was using a sharp hole punch. I then actually drilled the first hole all the way through with the dremel as a pilot hole and then followed up with the hand drill with the final sized bit.

Gas Pedal: This again was very easy, I just removed the pedal form the car (3 nuts and one electrical connector) and did it on the work bench. The entire assembly is made of plastic so it's easy to fasten the pedal face with self tapping sheet metal screws. I actually used one machine screw in the top right and 5 sheet metal screws.

Bottom line is that the pedals are made well and work and look great, but this isn't a 'slap it in' replacement for the stock pedals. One good this is that if something goes wrong none of the holes you are making will impact your ability to replace the stock pedals if you need to.

 

[ace72ace]

Thanks for this write up!!! Since I am planning an 'all day' mod install over at my neighbors, we are planning all of the work to be done in the most logical order. So after we unbolt the exhaust, and remove the stock drive shaft, we'll then install the MGW shifter while the shaft is out of the way. Not essential, but it's always easier with more room when working under the vehicle. What you just said about being able to push the pedal all the way to floor will be perfect because I'm replacing all the brake lines and clutch line, thus the perfect time for me to perform this task.

I don't have wide feet, just a high arch, so I don't need to worry about the extra wide gas pedal. Great tip on the dremel bit for the pilot hole. Will try to keep track of the time needed for each install. It may provide some insight on the amount of time saved if you replace your clutch line at the same time as performing the aluminum pedal install.

 

[fuhrius]

Pete,

I'd never heard of a clutch pedal extender....

why do you add one of these? and where do you find them? ie. the 'Bondo' product?

 

[PeteInCT]

Pete,

I'd never heard of a clutch pedal extender....

why do you add one of these? and where do you find them? ie. the 'Bondo' product?

My bad, it's BONDRA. See here:

http://bondraperformanceengineering.com/

Simple, inexpensive and works well.

 

[TheMarco]

but I have found the Puma non-FIA (ie non-fire rated) driving shoes for as low as $20 so they might be worth trying if you are having issues with the pedals. A lot cheaper than new pedals.

Where did you find Puma driving shoes that cheap? I'll take a few pairs at that price!