How I appreciate my accelerator pedal...

[Mark_88]

Well, on the way home Friday night, going up a big hill...POING...cable snapped...sooooo...the thought of being stuck on the side of the road being eaten by a rather large cloud of mosquitoes...I try to patch it...unfortunately, I don't have anything in the truck...

Then I realize my choke cable is not attached and fits the connection to the carb perfectly...well, almost...I wrap a piece of brake line around the ball on the carb and connect it to the choke wire...gets me to the local CTC store about 10 Kilometers away...but it's sticking every so often making shifting and accelerating a task (I still have a numb spot on my finger from the choke cable pull)...

I go into the CTC and ask about the part for a 78 Mustang II...since that's where the carb/intake came from...not available...then I ask about one from the 2.0 Ranger...available...for a small fee of my first two children (compared to free at the junkyard)...

Then I think "bicycle brake cable"...in stock for $3.59 + tax...off we go to the bike section...and they are in stock...decided I will do it at home...but now the choke is really sticking and I end up having to pull off the road three times before I make it the 12 Km to my place...and it's too dark, too mosquito infested to try to fix...but I have to be somewhere at 10 the next morning...

long story longer...I fixed it using the brake cable, but still thinking about getting the proper part...

I never realized how much I took that connection for granted...or how hard it actually is for someone with limited or no leg action to drive a vehicle...

The good news is...I actually rerouted the cable to be more in line with the pedal and it took almost all the slack out of the throttle cable better than zip ties...I might get photos and post a fix...which involved drilling and cutting the pedal to align with the opening in the firewall...

And this can be used with the original equipment...plus a few zip ties because I'm sure there is about an inch of slack built into the cables to allow it to loop over the top of the pedal...

 

[BlueChariot]

Yeah, not many people realise that before the layout of Clutch-Brake-Accel, and a gearshit lever, cars were operated by a variety of hand actuated controls. I do believe that on the Model T, the "gearshit" pedal felt like a very heavy clutch pedal, and acceleration was done through a lever (IIRC).

 

[v-8power]

I used to have a spectra(cheap) accelerator cable on my truck til it broke. I ended up using speaker wire run through the dash to limp it home.

 

[Il Brutto]

My buddy used his shoe strings wrapped around his finger out the window, in November, in Pennsylvania.

 

[Mark_88]

I used to have a spectra(cheap) accelerator cable on my truck til it broke. I ended up using speaker wire run through the dash to limp it home.

hmmm...good idea...

My buddy used his shoe strings wrapped around his finger out the window, in November, in Pennsylvania.

Hmmm...not a good idea...lol...

I looked at my boot laces and thought...naw, they're new and I will probably destroy them...

I am going to start carrying a spare chunk of wire around with me...just in case...

 

[Mark_88]

Yeah, not many people realise that before the layout of Clutch-Brake-Accel, and a gearshit lever, cars were operated by a variety of hand actuated controls. I do believe that on the Model T, the "gearshit" pedal felt like a very heavy clutch pedal, and acceleration was done through a lever (IIRC).

I met a guy with no hands once, and he drove an old T-bird using a knob on the steering wheel (he had those moveable hooks at the time)...and it was an automatic so not much shifting...but I've seen cars designed for drivers with no legs...just hadn't observed the actual process of how it was done...

 

[BlueChariot]

I met a guy with no hands once, and he drove an old T-bird using a knob on the steering wheel (he had those moveable hooks at the time)...and it was an automatic so not much shifting...but I've seen cars designed for drivers with no legs...just hadn't observed the actual process of how it was done...

Yeah, theres also foot steering mechanisms. Essentially, if you have at least two functioning limbs, you can operate a car via some sort of purpose made controls.

 

[holyford86]

Yeah, theres also foot steering mechanisms. Essentially, if you have at least two functioning limbs, you can operate a car via some sort of purpose made controls.

It's crazy what can be done to upfit vehicles for the handicapped. I know a guy that used to work for an upfitter

 

[kirk3000]

With hooks you could hold that shoe laced throttle all day and not get sore.

 

[--weezl--]

i've got a 1936 fordor sedan and it's got a hand throttle