Have any of you ever tried to use the stock throttle linkage with a modern v8?

My F4 came with a flathead which has been replaced with a 302. I want the truck to look stock from the outside and interior and to that end I've been trying to figure how to use the accelerator pedal linkage (the part that bolts to the firewall) to work my Holley Carb.

Any ideas?

 

I too am curious about a stock gas pedal and other motors... seems like it's just a cable away from being useable.

~Jason

 

my PO would suggest duct tape, super glue, and bailing wire; and if that wouldn't hold wrap it in aluminum foil for heat sheilding.

 

That's kind of what I was thinking too Jason. I have a Lokar throttle cable, still in its package, that I was going to try and use but there are a few things that woud have to be worked out.

1) a bracket to mount both ends of the cable outer sheathing (what ever you call the braided stainless steel)
2) figuring out a way to increase the movement of the stock throttle arm. As it is, there is not sufficient movement in the arm to fully open the carb.

 

A picture's worth a thousand words... and it would be absolutely awesome if somebody could post one.

~Jason

 

Did someone call for "Awesome?"

Well ya got me anyway.

Yes I have adapted the firewall mounted right side carb hook-up stock gas pedal and linkage to my 390 FE - and it works great. It requires some welding or brazing.

You know how the linkage bolts to the firewall and the lower part of the swivel arm goes through the floorboard to hook into the gas pedal. When you step on the pedal he curved lower left arm pushes out toward the engine. The whole assembly pivots at the firewall, and the right upper part pulls back to pull open the throttle.

What I did was braze an extension on the lower left side that sticks up as high on the left as the right side does, and hooked a lengthened adjustable solid rod from it to my Edelbrock 750. It must be working OK, I'm getting a whopping 10MPG and all four bodies open. I just needed a heavy return spring so the throttle is not at all touchy. Girly lead foot don't ya know!

OK Julie but where's the pictures?

Here ya go:







You'll note that the left side mounting position is shimmed out 1/2 inch with a nylon spacer. The only reason I had to do this is because the reproduction gas pedal I bought had a slightly different hinge angle on it than the original and the rod would drift to the right and drag on the firewall at full throttle (and it stuck once too - but just once ) the shim aligns the direction of travel of the gas pedal rod so it is exactly perpendicular to the firewall and does not bind.

If you have any more more questions or need more pics, let me know. I'll try. As you can see there's not a whole lot of room back there.

These pics are in my gallery #2 pic 31/32/34 if you want to see them a little clearer

 

How about controlling 2 Holleys? I used the same setup when I had the 302 and stock 2 bbl Holley carb. Nevermind the choke cable or wiring harness partially obscuring this, they are not hooked up. I have progressive linkage on the other side and a return spring from the progressive linkage back to the accelerator linkage arm at the firewall.

 

love the engine... the wires hanging every where scares me.

 

Well with the labels still on the wires I think it's safe to assume the wiring is "A work in progress"

So "I see no-thing, NO-THING" (not even the orange wire nuts -sssshhhhhhh!)

Are we picking on you 53OTM?!

 

Are ya'll saying I'm not DONE yet? Sheesh next you'll complain about the lack of fenders.....

 

Thank you Julie and 53OlderThanMe for the pictures!!! That definitely helps.

So Julie, you welded an "extension" to the left arm of the accelerator linkage to work the rod going to the carb? (btw, the 390 is one of my favorite engines. I'd love to have a 69 Cougar, 66-67 Fairlane/Cyclone, or 67-68 Mustang wraped around a stout 390 with those awesome 180 degree headers. Mmm)

 

This one (in the words of Dan Akroyd) is "a cop car motor," it's the Police Interceptor variant, and I think it was out of a mid to late 60 vintage Fairlaine or Gallaxy. When I took my (what was supposed to be a 390 when we bought the truck) 360 in to be rebuilt, it had a crack out of a freeze plug.

The guy at the shop had had the 390 PI engine in his shop for some time and wanted to get rid of it. So he rebuilt it to PI specs (used the PI crank etc) (except for the cam we threw into it) for me for no extra charge ( I call it "skirt and heels" negotiating)

I also wanted all the stuff being seen on the truck to be as original as possible - steering column, dash, etc. So hooking the big FE and the C6 with the VERY tight firewall and floorboard space was quite a challange. That meant having to adjust the throttle linkage and the original three on the tree column shift for the Automatic transmission. Doing it mechanically is simple-space is the problem.

So, yes, I just brazed an extension up the entire length of the left side of the throttle (I think it's a I6 throttle by the way, they were different from the V8) heated/bent out the end and filed a ball on the end of it. You may have noticed the actual throttle connecting rod is brazed together as well. That was for testing, and I have since replaced it with a full length adjustable solid rod.

Since you like the FEs and headers so much, maybe it's time again (and I can feel the old timers rolling their eyes) to post an engine picture:

Here ya go:



During the last tune up it dyno'd at about 395 net hp. 9-10 mpg (freeway)

 

Oh Julie, you can post that picture anytime.