Break peddle adjustment maybe

D

Dbuehl

Junior Member
Hello All,

I’m a new owner (about a month now). Bought a 1930 Std Coupe.

So many questions it’s almost hard to prioritize. I guess the first thing I need to clear up is the break peddle.

Everywhere I read how much fun an “A” is to drive but right now for me it’s awkward if not dangerous.

I am 6’1” & have trouble pressing the break peddle because of the distance between the peddle & the steering wheel. I have to **** my leg 45 deg to get my foot on the peddle. But I can’t do that if in 1st or 3rd gear. So I end up shifting into neutral then breaking & then trying figure what gear best to be in. Now I don’t think everyone in the 30s was short! I’ve tried to pay attention watching videos & I think I have seen some break peddles sticking out of the floorboards only a couple inches vs the clutch which is at about 6-7”. Right now both my peddles are about 6-7”.

Question with no clearance to move the steering wheel up closer to the dash, is this an adjustment that can be made to the peddle & is it recommended?

Thanks
Dave
 
Getting used to the quirks of a Model A is an acquired habit. I'm the same height and it becomes normal after awhile. As far as I know there is no such adjustment.
 
with all due respect, that is why you should have taken it for a test drive before you bought it. Enjoy your new toy.
Wayne
 
You may look into the narrower seatbacks to move your butt farther from the wheel to make it driveable for you.
 
I had the same problem in my Town Sedan. I'm sure it's worse in a coupe. I bent my shifer to the right to give my leg a little more room between the brake peddle, steering wheel and shift knob. Better but not great.

I also moved my seat back ~3". Not sure you could do that with a coupe.

There was a thread on this a while back where I posted a picture of a tool I made for bending the shifter. Some say the just bend it, some say to heat and bend it. I used my tool... :p:p
 
Last edited:
Y-Blockhead said:
Found it!! http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=199257http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=199257http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=199257http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=199257
Click to expand...


Thanks!
Spent a night or two thinking about bending the shifter to the right about 3” up from the boot & then back vertical. So 2 bends in the shaft or a soft “U” to bring the knob back close to center. My knee would fit in the “U”.
My wife is five foot nothing with feet that fit into my hand so she doesn’t need a lot of room. What she lacks in size she makes up for in shopping power!

Thanks for the old thread! Sometimes things are so simple can’t see the forest through the trees.

The Coupe has a little 4” shelf behind the set. I had thought about removing the shelf & sliding everything back. Not trying to win any trophies but also wanted to keep it as close to original as I can so wasn’t keen on cutting out the shelf.

I'll be back in a day or two with my next "A" dilemma.
 
On Minerva, an Early '30 Std Coupe, I cut 4" from the package tray, drilled the rivets from the seat riser & moved the WHOLE thing back, by 4"---With the seat adjusted all the way back, it looked like a FACTORY job!
Bill Comfortable
 
The Jan '30 cars had a 44" steering column. The Feb. cars came with a 45" column. That inch doesn't sound like much but I had a 44" column and hitting the brake pedal was difficult. Knee kept hitting the steering wheel.
I replaced it with a 45" column and that greatly relieved the problem.
 
I am 6'4" and had much the same (worse?) problem. I was lucky enough to have a fordor, so I just moved the entire seat mounting back several inches.
I saw in an earlier post there is a way for you to get 4", I think that would be enough. It doesn't take as much as you would think to make room.
CHAZ
 
SteveB31 said:
The average American male was 5'8" in 1929......
Click to expand...

I went to a baseball game in Fenway this past summer, and there was NO WAY I could sit in the original wooden seats. Had there not been empty seats in my row I would have to have moved. Obviously no one was as tall as me when the stadium was built. 1912?
CHAZ
 
I am 6'4 with size 11 feet', albeit a skinny 190lbs. I have not had any problems driving our 1928 Tudor. The driver's seat risers have been reversed, but no other mods.

I wish that Boeing 737 seats were as roomy.

My only complaint is that North American vehicles are not set up for 'heel/toe' brake and accelerator action.
 
BILL WILLIAMSON said:
On Minerva, an Early '30 Std Coupe, I cut 4" from the package tray, drilled the rivets from the seat riser & moved the WHOLE thing back, by 4"---With the seat adjusted all the way back, it looked like a FACTORY job!
Bill Comfortable
Click to expand...

Sir,

Do you happen to have any pictures of your project removing the tray & moving everything back?
Would like to see what’s involved should I decide to take this route.

thanks
 
Dave,
Posted below is from a post I made several years ago when I sold a coupe to a tall fellow. He was very tall and had the same kind of issue. This is a procedure to relocate the shift lever orientation to the passenger side leaving more leg room for the pedals, etc.

Read my post paragraph below, drop me a PM if you need. It really worked great.
It was a great result from my brainstorm to solve his delimma with only so much room to deal with in a coupe. It will work on any body style however.

A couple of years ago I modified one on a coupe I sold to a very tall fellow. He had so much leg that he couldn't use 1st. I took a new repro shift lever and redrilled the pin hole for the slot in the shift tower.. I used another shift tower for a mock up... and dislodged the bell and redrilled the shift lever hole. No need to weld up the old hole, just cross drill at your selected placement. It placed the gear lever far over to the right but it did the trick for him in getting leg clearance. There's only so much in a coupe!

I thought at the time that it was way better than bending, didn't mess up any chrome.. and did the job professionally and without stress to any components. If you want to go back no big deal..just install your old shift lever or whole tower.

Best of luck!
Larry Shepard
 
Dbuehl said:
Sir,

Do you happen to have any pictures of your project removing the tray & moving everything back?
Would like to see what’s involved should I decide to take this route.

thanks
Click to expand...
I'm sorry, I don't have pics. With the shelf in place, just sawed out 4" with a scroll saw, moved the WHOLE seat assy back & bolted it down.
It's a lot of work, but worth it.
Bill W.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top