So I really like the feel of the manual brakes on my car since I switched but there has been one consistent problem I haven't tackled until now. My brake pedal under anything other than the most mild braking will be below the height of the throttle pedal. This is a very bad situation for toe heel shifting. I need the brake pedal under threshold braking to remain slightly higher than my throttle pedal.
My current setup:
- Stock brake pedal
Wilwood 1" manual master cylinder
brake pushrod into the manual hole on the pedal arm
brake pushrod adjusted the maxium stroke (pedal is up firmly against pedal stop when no pressure on pedal)
Wilwood Superlight calipers (6 piston front and 4 rear)
GM DBW throttle pedal
The potential solutions and pro/cons I've thought of are:
1 - Increase bore size of the master cylinder. Pro: this will shorten pedal travel. Simple installation that requires no new fabrication. Con: For every bit of pedal travel reduced I will need more force from my foot to achieve the same level of braking. Currently I'm at the most force I think I can comfortably apply with 1/2 - 3/4 of my foot while toe heel braking while maintaining threshold accuracy.
2 - Lower throttle pedal height. Pro: Will shorten pedal travel. Con: My current DBW pedal is indenting the carpet when under full throttle. I'm not sure if there is a way to shorten the throw of the pedal to compensate? Otherwise, reworking the floor is required to maintain throttle pedal travel.
3 - Go back to power brakes. Pro: will reduce pedal travel. Some brake line fab only. Con: It won't fix it entirely based on when I had power brakes before. I was closer to even with throttle under heavy braking. Would need something else in addition (maybe larger m/c). I would need either a vacuum canister or high efficiency (is there such thing) booster to work with my low vacuum motor. I would lose the benefit of the feel of manual brakes
4 - Rework the brake pedal arm. Pro: will reduce pedal height under heavy braking. Con: will raise pedal height at rest and I'm 6'3" so leg space is a premium. Requires some fab work on the pedal. Might look janky lol.
Am I thinking about this the right way? What are other folks who are toe heel shifting their manual brake first gen Camaro doing? Anything else I should be thinking about?
Thanks