Pedal Cluster Rebuild

Difficulty Level 4

Difficulty scale:
Adding air to your tires is level one
Rebuilding a 911 Motor is level ten

Figure 1:
Bronze Pedal Bushing Kit

Figure 2:
What You Will Need

Figure 3:
Pedal Cluster

Figure 4:
Brake Pedal Spring

     The most common upgrade for the pedal cluster is to replace the original plastic bushings with bronze, oil-impregnated ones.  The bronze pedal bushing kit is shown in Figure 1.  The bronze bushings won’t be subject to the corrosion from any leaky master cylinders, and they also help protect against rust that may be caused by water leakage. Replacing the plastic bushings also helps guarantee that your pedal cluster won’t squeak anymore, or even worse, get stuck in the down position.  You will most likely also need some new rubber pedals for your brake and clutch, and also some white lithium grease to make sure that everything stays lubricated.  (Figure 2)

     The pedal cluster for the early 911s and the 914 are identical (see Figure 3).  Figure 4 shows an exploded view of the pedal cluster that is very useful for reassembly.  See our 914 Parts Section for more details on the exploded view.  The accelerator pedal itself is a separate unit from the entire cluster. The clutch pedal on the cluster is sprung so that the pedal is always pushed towards the floor. If you disconnect the clutch cable, then the pedal will drop to the floor. This is important to remember if you can’t figure out which direction the clutch spring goes. When the clutch cable is connected to the car, then the actual spring of the pressure plate is what pulls the pedal out from the floor. The brake pedal on the other hand, is sprung so that the pedal is pushing out towards your feet, and works in conjunction with the spring inside the master cylinder.

     The first step in rebuilding your pedal cluster involves removing it from the car. Start by removing the carpet down by the floorwell. Depending upon how previous owners of your car mounted the carpet, it should easily pull up and away from the cluster. On some cars, this involves only removing the driver side floor mat. If the carpet is glued down, then remove it very carefully, as you can tear the carpet, and have to replace it.

     Once you get the carpet removed, then you need to remove the wooden floorboard. There should be two hex-head bolts holding the wooden floor board to the chassis. Remove these bolts, and then remove the floor board. On some cars (356s in particular) you may need to remove the accelerator pedal to get the floorboard out. Be careful not to bang the 356 fuel cock hanging down in the inside of the car.

     If you look carefully at the wooden floorboard, you will see that there are slots around the openings for the pedals. These are there so that the pedal can be pressed down and not bang into the wood. These slots also help you in removing the floorboard. Carefully twist it out, but make sure that you don’t damage it when you are removing it. Sometimes it is useful to remove the pedal covers when removing the floorboards, as that gives you just a little more room to maneuver.

     After you get the wooden floorboard out, inspect it and make sure that it is all in one piece, and not water damaged. Seeing how they are made of wood, they often wear out and deteriorate over the years. Pelican Parts stocks good used replacement floorboards if you need one for your car. If yours is ok, you might want to respray it with some newer high-tech sealant paint that will keep it fresh for many years to come.

     Once you have the floorboards out, you should have access to the pedal cluster. If your car is like everyone that I have owned, there will be a lot of debris down there. Dirt, rust, screws, washers, leaves, small animals, lost episodes of ‘Giligan’s Island’ and other assorted junk has a unique habit of finding its way underneath the pedal cluster. I would advise taking a vacuum cleaner and cleaning out the area near the cluster before you remove it. This will make the job a lot more pleasant, and will also prevent you from tracking dirt and other debris across the interior of your car when you remove the cluster.

     After the cluster area is cleaned, then you can remove the cluster itself. Start by disconnecting the clutch cable from the cluster. The cable should be attached with a small cup-like coupler that can simply be snapped off of the ball on the pedal cluster. I usually like to use a screwdriver to perform this task, as my hand almost inevitably slips, and bangs against something sharp. Now, disconnect the gas pedal from the cluster. A similar ball-cup connection device should join the two together. On the 914, simply pull the pedal out towards you, and the ball should separate from the rubber pedal.

Figure 6:
Drilling Out Roll Pin

Figure 7:
Roll Pin with Hole Drilled in Center

Figure 8:
Pressing Out Roll Pin

Figure 9:
Pressing Out the Roll Pin

Figure 10:
Roll Pin Removed

Figure 11:
Prying Off Clutch Pedal

Figure 12:
Center Shaft and Clutch Arm Removed

Figure 13:
Securing Nut for Center Shaft

Figure 14:
Removing Nut that Holds Center Shaft

Figure 15:
Cleaning Center Shaft

Figure 16:
Removing Old Bushing from Center Shaft

Figure 17:
Center Shaft with New Bronze Bushing

Figure 18:
Accelerator Arm

Figure 19:
Cotter Pin that Holds Accelerator Arm

Figure 20:
Brake Pedal Spring Installed

Figure 21:
Clutch Pedal Spring Installed

Figure 22:
Pressing In a New Roll Pin

Figure 23:
Roll Pin Installed

Figure 24:
Installing Rubber Pedals

Figure 25:
Checking Brake Pedal Switch

     The majority of the cluster is held in by a roll pin that is inserted through the end of the clutch pedal. The hardest part of rebuilding the cluster is getting the old pin out. There are a few ways of doing this, and none of them work very well. As an alternative, you can take the cluster to a machine shop and have them remove it on one of their presses.

     The first thing to try in removing the roll pin is to place a bolt on one end and smack it carefully with a hammer. Make sure that the base of the clutch pedal is firmly mounted in a vise so that you don’t dent, damage, or bend any of the parts on the cluster. Tapping the pin with a hammer might make it move slightly. I my own personal experience, it required quite a bit more to get the pin out. One particular method that I like is to drill the inside of the pin out, as shown in Figure 6. Get a few brand new steel drill bits (and plan on destroying them in this process), and start by drilling inside the roll pin. The pin has a hollow center, so it should be relatively easy to get the drill bit started in the pin. Drill out the pin by increasing the size of the drill bit that you use, until the pin is significantly smaller in diameter, as shown in Figure 7. Now, the pin should be easier to press out. You can now try to smack it out with a hammer, or you can place it in a vise with a screw behind the roll pin, and compress the vise until the pin is pressed out, as shown in Figure 8 and Figure 9.  The roll pin is shown removed in Figure 10.

     Once you get the pin out, the hardest part of rebuilding the cluster is behind you.  Now, disassemble the pedal cluster. Begin by removing the clutch pedal bottom (#30)  from the clutch lever shaft (#34). You can do this by prying it off with a screwdriver, as shown in Figure 11.  Once you have the clutch bottom removed, then you can slide out the clutch pedal shaft. The clutch pedal bottom and clutch pedal shaft are shown in Figure 12.

     Now, you need to remove the brake pedal.   Remove the nut (#36), shown in Figure 13, that holds in the flange that is attached to the bearing tube (#38). After the nut has been removed (Figure 14), then you can slide out the bearing tube and remove it. After the tube has been removed, it should be easy to remove the center tube/brake pedal (#40) that surrounds the bearing tube.

     You should now have the entire pedal assembly disassembled.  Take the bearing tube, and remove the two plastic bushings (#35) from each end.  Inspect the tube for any rust or surface debris.  In most cases, the tube will require cleaning.   Take a sheet of fine sandpaper, and lightly sand off any rust that might have formed on the tube.  This is shown in Figure 15.  Now, take the two new medium sized bronze bushings and insert them in each end of the tube.  Take a small amount of lithium grease and run some around the inside of the bronze bushings.  Now set the bearing tube aside.

     After you have cleaned the bearing tube, set it aside, and pick up the brake pedal.  Remove the two bushings (#42) from either end of the brake pedal, as shown in Figure 16.  Take the largest two new bronze bushings and place them inside the brake pedal as shown in Figure 17.  Place some grease on the inside of the bushings, and then set it aside.

     Now we need to remove the small accelerator guide lever (#25), as shown in Figure 18.  Take out the cotter pin (#22) on the inside of the shaft (Figure 19), and then slide the shaft out.  Remove the two plastic bushings (#24), and replace them with the two small bronze ones.  Spread a little grease on these, and then insert the shaft back into the pedal cluster base, and reinstall the cotter pin.

    At this point, you should have two pieces left over from the bronze pedal bushing kit, a small bronze bushing, and a new roll pin.  The smallest bronze bushing goes inside the end of the clutch pedal shaft (#34).  Insert it in there, and then replace the parts that go on the end of the lever.  This is also shown in Figure 18.

     Now, you need to assemble the cluster back together.  Reassemble it in the opposite manner to which you took it apart, making sure that you put plenty of grease everywhere.  It is important to reinstall the springs correctly.  Refer to Figure 20 for the proper installation of the brake pedal spring, and Figure 21 for the proper installation of the clutch pedal spring.  Prior to reassembling the pedal cluster, you might want to spray the base with a nice coat of Rustoleum.

     After you get everything reassembled, it's time to press in the new roll pin.  This is not an easy task, but is much simpler than the removal process.  I recommend using a press, but if you don't happen to have one, then a vise will do fine (Figure 22).   Once you get it started, the vise should press it in pretty easily.  Figure 23 shows the roll pin properly pressed in.

     Now it's time to put some new rubber pedals on.   These are best installed with the help of a screwdriver, as shown in Figure 24.  Additionally, at this time, you probably want to adjust and test your brake pedal switch.  Using a multi-tester like the one shown in Figure 25, adjust the brake switch so that it turns on just after you press the pedal.  Remember that the brake pedal is sprung back towards your foot, so it is unlikely that the switch will accidentally turn on, even if you set the switch clearance real close.

     Installation of the cluster back into the car (as described in typical Haynes Manual verbiage) is indeed the 'reverse of removal.'   Make sure that your master cylinder is bolted down tight to the pedal clusters, and make sure that your accelerator and clutch cables don't wrap around each other when you're putting everything back together.

     Well, that about covers it.  If you liked this tech article, and would like to see some more of them in the future, then please be sure to support Pelican Parts with all your business.  We work hard to win you over with great customer support, and tech advice like you wouldn't believe.  Please email us if you have any questions, or give us a call at 1-888-280-7799 if you need anything for your car.  Thanks again for your support.

Norman Smith has the following to add:

I just read the tech article on rebuilding the 911/914 pedal cluster. I found it very informative, and am in the process of using it as a guide to replacing the roll pins.

You might consider a short tech item referring to the pedal cluster rebuild regarding broken roll pins. I’ve had my 1974 911 since 1988, and am in the process of replacing the roll pin for the clutch for the third time. The first time this was done was in California in San Rafael at Sonnen Porsche. I thought the problem was with the cable or roll pin because I’d heard about problems with both these items. They examined the car and assured me that the problem was a collapsed pressure plate. I was unsure of this, but they insisted and I figured they ‘might’ know a bit more than me about the subject.

Well, after paying $800.00 to have the pressure plate replaced (it was two years old, and installed by Chris Powell in Bellevue WA) I drove back to my hotel in San Francisco where the car was parked in the garage for several days.

On Thursday we headed back home to Kirkland WA. When we got to the Golden Gate Bridge in rush hour traffic, the roll pin for the clutch pedal broke the rest of the way. It’s fortunate I’m able to shift without the clutch. When I got back to Sonnen Porsche, they said that ‘this was coincidental’. The roll pin broke because there was a new pressure plate. I said ‘yeah, right’ and spent six months trying to get my money back. I never did (need a used F&S ressure plate?)

The tip-off that the roll pin is going bad is that the clutch begins to shift hard, and improves when the cable is adjusted tighter. However, this only works for a few days, and must be done again. After about four times, the clutch pedal begins to feel funny, and then will drop to the floor when you try to depress it.

Shifting while moving after this is not too bad, but if you have to stop, you have to turn the engine off and start it again when the ‘light’ changes while in first gear. It starts right away and the car moves instantly, so be careful.

I think it is important that people be aware that the roll pin at $1.00 is probably a lot less expensive than having the pressure plate replaced. If the car begins to shift ‘hard’, and adjusting the clutch only corrects the problem for a short time, it’s probably the roll pin.

Norm Smith
norman.smith@metrokc.gov