Advise about Pedals, Sought from Real Drivers!

[tyoneal]

James:

Thanks a lot for offering your advice and experience with these other pedal choices. I'll answer/ask within your last post.

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There are a a lot of considerations that you have to take into account with pedal boxes or assemblies and like anything else your decision will have potential consequences that may steer you away from one layout or another. Based upon my experience (I have a Tilton 900-Series firewall mount pedal assembly in the OLC '67) I can offer the following thoughts and observations:

Manufacturers - top 3:
Tilton
AP Racing
Brembo
In all reality the three are probably tied as they all offer a top shelf system but I ranked them that way because (a) I have seen and used the Tilton system, (b) the AP pedal box is a proven product (primarily overseas) but I had very little success sourcing in in NA, and (c) the Brembo unit is quite new and I have not had an opportunity to see it myself. These are also probably the three most expensive offerings on the market but you did say performance over price and these three are used in top tier motorsports around the world.


Location and Mount

There are definately pro's and con's to both layouts, what I found was:

Floor Mount
Pros:
More commonly available as a 3-pedal assembly
More flexibility with reservoir mounting locations
Easier overall plumbing
Cons:
Camaro toe panel forces choice between fabrication and seat mount location
Your pedals are where they are and you have to be comfortable with them
You are going to have plumbing in the car and will need to consider routing outside of the car as well
Need to think about steering column
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Firewall Mount
Pros:
Pedals will be located in essentially stock location
Can use stock gas pedal or drive by wire (with 2-pedal boxes)
You have a little more flexibility on location and layout
Stock seating location is maintained
Cons:
More commonly 2-pedal vs 3-pedal
Can't use stock steering column (can be overcome - thank you Ididit)
Reservoir mounting and plumbing requires more thought
Drivers side valve cover (can be overcome)
Will require reinforcement of firewall and (recommended) tie to cage
2-Pedal vs 3-Pedal
Entirely up to you but you may be limited depending on your choice of firewall or floor mount. One advantage of the 2-pedal box is it allows you more choices with your gas pedal and location of the pedals themselves. On the Tilton assembly you can move the pedal pads relative to the arms to fine tune for fat feet. In my case I am using a locar gas pedal and am having a custom pad machined to optimum heel toe comfort. You could also buy a mono heel toe pedal cover.

One other consideration that you could have (and this would depend on you dash/gauge layout) would be the use of a through firewall or reverse overhung design with a firewall mound)

Thats knid of a quick summary. If you have any specific quesions or want more details just let me know.
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James:

Thanks for your offer. Before spending the money on your set up, where did you get your experience with the after-market pedals? (Driving Schools?

Have the Floors of your Camaro been modified? If so, were they change for the pedals or were the pedals chosen for the existing space that came originally with the car.

How did you do your research? Did you have anyone drive your car and make suggestions based on your car?

It's late, I'll post some more soon if I can think of something relevant,

Thanks again,

Ty

[James OLC]

Originally Posted by tyoneal

Before spending the money on your set up, where did you get your experience with the after-market pedals? (Driving Schools?)

I have been building race cars for quite a while and have had the opportunity to try lots of different arrangements in my cars and customer cars as well. I had the opportunity to see the Tilton assembly and speak to their engineers at Sema 2 years ago and that really solidified my decision.

Have the Floors of your Camaro been modified? If so, were they change for the pedals or were the pedals chosen for the existing space that came originally with the car.

lol. Yes, the floors in my Camaro have been modified but no, it had nothing to do with the pedals. The pedal assembly fits in the stock(ish) location (As mentioned I am using a Locar has pedal which is in the stock location).

How did you do your research? Did you have anyone drive your car and make suggestions based on your car?
Ty

I made my choice based on engineering, history, feel and suitability for what I was looking for. Research - internet, word of mouth, Sema. As far as having someone else drive my car to tell me what kind of pedals I want...that really wouldn't help me much would it?

[tyoneal]

Originally Posted by reboot04

I have been building race cars for quite a while and have had the opportunity to try lots of different arrangements in my cars and customer cars as well. I had the opportunity to see the Tilton assembly and speak to their engineers at Sema 2 years ago and that really solidified my decision.



lol. Yes, the floors in my Camaro have been modified but no, it had nothing to do with the pedals. The pedal assembly fits in the stock(ish) location (As mentioned I am using a Locar has pedal which is in the stock location).



I made my choice based on engineering, history, feel and suitability for what I was looking for. Research - internet, word of mouth, Sema. As far as having someone else drive my car to tell me what kind of pedals I want...that really wouldn't help me much would it?

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James:

Thanks a million for the information. Your research sounds very thorough and I appreciate you sharing it with me.

Best Regards,

Ty

[tyoneal]

Any other recommendations based on experience?