Welding the clutch pedal assembly Q's

BlackbirdOfPrey · 06-30-2005, 06:16 PM

I finally got the pedal assembly out of the car (major PITA) and that creates a few questions. I know the fix is to weld the lever to the shaft at the end of the shaft to remove any chance of freeplay (and on mine there is a lot of freeplay wiggle on the lever), the problem is that the shaft goes through a bracket before it bolts to the lever. I CANNOT remove the bracket because there is a rivet where the bracket meets the firewall that holds it in place. What do I do? How do I get around this? I am talking about the bracket right above the gas pedal that also has the adjustment rod in it along with the return spring. I'm sorry I don't have pictures to better show what I mean.

GoldÐiamond · 07-01-2005, 10:10 PM

There is only 1 bolt vertically holding that 'arm housing' up. You can also remove the 'turn-over spring.' -like a retaining sring- If it helps.

Drifte · 04-01-2008, 09:06 PM

I suppose i will bring this back. All of the tech articles seem to have lost their pictures. I plan to do this in the coming weekend as that seems to be the only answer for my problem. Im just wondering, it seems I ought to be able to reach up in their with a welder. pull the center carpet moldings, pull ecu, reach up in from the passenger side and have another person up in their lining things up...atleast it makes sense when I cant look at my car.

GoldÐiamond · 04-02-2008, 10:02 AM

I guarantee you'll be better off taking it out of the car. You'll hate it, and possibly your car, and possibly the world - but it'll be worth it.

JackM · 04-02-2008, 12:34 PM

Agreed, you can't get a good enough weld from inside the car. We have welded quite a few of those in the past. I have been TIG welding for years and I remove the nut, cut off the threads, cut a V into the arm and shaft, and then put an awesome row of dimes on it. After about 10k miles or so, the weld will break. Welding it is a waste of time and you will be pulling it again. Get a new arm and pedal from the dealer. It's cheap and you won't have to worry about it for another 100k miles. I don't understand why people are always so against just doing it the right way and replacing the worn parts...

Jack

eclipsh · 04-02-2008, 02:16 PM

Here's an odd thought. On my clutch assembly we just added some metal into the arm (piled up some weld) where the corner rounds out and filed it down so the play was gone. It seems to be working fine but I don't have very many miles on it.

Edit: to clarify, we did not weld the pedal together, just "fixed' the arm.

Dave532 · 04-02-2008, 02:33 PM

What about welding the new pedal assembly before you install it??
Eh? Best of both worlds right?
(Sorry, I'm being a bit sarcastic as I have dealt with this before as well)

Morphius · 04-02-2008, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackM

Agreed, you can't get a good enough weld from inside the car. We have welded quite a few of those in the past. I have been TIG welding for years and I remove the nut, cut off the threads, cut a V into the arm and shaft, and then put an awesome row of dimes on it. After about 10k miles or so, the weld will break. Welding it is a waste of time and you will be pulling it again. Get a new arm and pedal from the dealer. It's cheap and you won't have to worry about it for another 100k miles. I don't understand why people are always so against just doing it the right way and replacing the worn parts...

Jack

I have to disagree. I have a 90 AWD that I put in a ACT 2600 clutch and welded the pedal assm. I've put over 60K on that assm, with the car now having 200K on it. No failed weld.

There are probably, at a minimum, 100 people on here that have done the same procedure and have over 10K on them.

Drifte · 04-02-2008, 05:37 PM

Just wish full thinking guys. I have no problem in the fabrication area, and I was under the impression I couldnt get the oem parts anymore. I will figure something out ONCE I get it out of the car! I am missing test and tune auto-x this weekend though

.

JackM · 04-03-2008, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morphius

I have to disagree. I have a 90 AWD that I put in a ACT 2600 clutch and welded the pedal assm. I've put over 60K on that assm, with the car now having 200K on it. No failed weld.

There are probably, at a minimum, 100 people on here that have done the same procedure and have over 10K on them.

I have seen a couple of them. They are not doing it right. When they weld it, they are welding the arm as it sat on the shaft when they pulled it. The weld will hold when you do it that way, but you won't have the full pedal travel. Basically, what you are doing is taking out the slop (loose feeling) out at the top of the pedal travel, but you are not getting the full range of motion from the pedal.

Jack

Morpherex · 04-03-2008, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackM

Agreed, you can't get a good enough weld from inside the car. We have welded quite a few of those in the past. I have been TIG welding for years and I remove the nut, cut off the threads, cut a V into the arm and shaft, and then put an awesome row of dimes on it. After about 10k miles or so, the weld will break. Welding it is a waste of time and you will be pulling it again. Get a new arm and pedal from the dealer. It's cheap and you won't have to worry about it for another 100k miles. I don't understand why people are always so against just doing it the right way and replacing the worn parts...

Jack

What if you put new parts on THEN weld it? Shouldn't that last a lifetime?

Drifte · 04-03-2008, 08:12 PM

If I have time I may just pull it and take pics, see all the options you can have with it. Seems to be like I could run some nice beeds inside and out and have it nice and solid. Cant decide which would be best though, tig or mig. Maybe someone has some pics already so I could start planning better.

JackM · 04-04-2008, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morpherex

What if you put new parts on THEN weld it? Shouldn't that last a lifetime?

I have one now that we are going to do that same thing to. I think that would be the best solution.

Jack

Drifte · 04-07-2008, 05:27 PM

Happen to have any pics of these guys?

Drifte · 04-12-2008, 08:20 AM

I have my pedals out currently. Wasnt as hard as I thought it was going to be. But now Im looking at it and I dont see anything like what I heard discribed. It seems obvious what needs welded here, but I want to be sure before I do it.

clutch pedal is attatched to a long shaft. At the end of the long shaft is a bushing, then the large bracket, then the smaller bracket thats attatched to a spring. The smaller bracket needs welded to the shaft without melting that bushing. Once welded of course that larger bracket doesnt come off anymore.

droppinbottom · 05-31-2008, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackM

Agreed, you can't get a good enough weld from inside the car. We have welded quite a few of those in the past. I have been TIG welding for years and I remove the nut, cut off the threads, cut a V into the arm and shaft, and then put an awesome row of dimes on it. After about 10k miles or so, the weld will break. Welding it is a waste of time and you will be pulling it again. Get a new arm and pedal from the dealer. It's cheap and you won't have to worry about it for another 100k miles. I don't understand why people are always so against just doing it the right way and replacing the worn parts...

Jack

Would you by chance know the mitsu part numbers on these pieces you speak of. I am about to have to do this to mine and would rather replace it if possible.

droppinbottom · 06-03-2008, 07:41 AM

Can anyone take a look at this picture and confirm which part needs to be replaced in the clutch assembly?

GRNDSM · 06-03-2008, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by droppinbottom

Can anyone take a look at this picture and confirm which part needs to be replaced in the clutch assembly?

You need new item 4 and item 18.

But not all welding is created equal! First time I welded the pedal it failed right a way (my fault). Second weld was MUCH stronger, but I welded it in the WRONG position, so it was ruined. I then just took an assembly from stock parts car

.

I work with AWS welder who have welded an assembly for another customer. Last time I heard he had over 100k on ACT 2600. So it can be done right. But it isn't trevial and you do not want to do this job more than once (like my first two tries...).

turboAWDfanatic · 06-06-2008, 06:04 PM

I've replaced my assembly with brand new OEM parts twice, and both times they rounded out the lever almost immediately! (What in the world am I doing wrong?) A welded assembly didn't work for me either, but it wasn't really done right. I'm getting sick of this. I have enough travel to shift, but my clutch still drags some and if I don't shift carefully it grinds. Somebody engineer a cost effective solution and sell it to the masses!!!

BTW see my poll on this issue that I posted earlier

number3 · 06-28-2008, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eclipsh

Here's an odd thought. On my clutch assembly we just added some metal into the arm (piled up some weld) where the corner rounds out and filed it down so the play was gone. It seems to be working fine but I don't have very many miles on it.

Edit: to clarify, we did not weld the pedal together, just "fixed' the arm.

Back in 1998 I repaired mine (1992 Galant VR4) in this fashion and never looked back.