Swinging Pedal Assembly - Swingin' Pedals

Next, I grabbed the pedals and tweaked the bends a bit increasing the distance between the pedal arms just enough so there was adequate clearance so they didn't hit the steering box when depressed. While I was at it I swapped out the rectangular pedal pads for the round ones on the '48 Ford pedals I was originally planning to use.

After I slid the cowl back in I marked and center-punched the balance of the bracket mounting holes. I then drilled a few small diameter starter holes in both the upper and lower sections of the firewall.

I was so intent on handling the mounting holes that I plum forgot the holes for the master and pushrods. It was back under the cowl to get those handled.

While the cowl was off (so I could use a hole saw for the larger holes) I figured it'd be smart just to double check the fit between the master and the bracket. It fit just fine.

One thing I did notice though was the large diameter holes fell flush with the edge of the firewall flange. That area would have to be trimmed slightly larger than the width of the master cylinder so that it will sit flush and sandwich the firewall between it and the pedal bracket. (The arrows show the marks on the flange where it'll need to be trimmed.)

Here, with the cowl back in place, you can see just how close the holes are to the flange and here, how much of the flange was trimmed away.

...and here, how much of the flange was trimmed away.

That done, I went ahead and bolted the master in place. Then it was back inside and under the cowl to install the pedal and push rod assembly into its mounting bracket.

Once I got the pedals and pushrods installed into the bracket I again switched gears and went back to the steering box bracket.When I got that reinforced and solid enough to resist the torque generated when turning the wheels I then fashioned a shorty column using a '40 Ford steering shaft, the upper third of a column tube from a '60 Ford pickup, a swap meet find column drop, and a Grant four-spoke wheel.

Aside from mucking up the master cylinder dust boots, the install turned out just fine.

Not too bad for a weekend out in the garage. The setup seems to work just fine, and as soon as I run down and grab a clutch slave, some hard line, and a clutch disc I'll tackle the balance of the clutch and brake plumbing and assembly. Finding and installing these cool and affordable aftermarket gems is half the fun of building a homebrewed hot rod. The other half is designing and fabricating my own-that is when they actually work as well as products like these anyway.