Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Ze Tools

PAGE 5: DUH, WHAT'S GRAY MATTER??

Project #1 TDI MKII

12-15-2005

OK, so an update.....

Here's a picture of the Passat Pedal cluster (left) next to the stock 89 Diesel one (right). To remove the old one, remove the steering column and move the harness bits out of the way. Undo the nuts holding the pedal cluster into place, unclip the clutch cable, unclip the accelerator cable, then remove the lockpin from the brake pedal and you're almost there. There's a retaining clip on the engine side of the clutch conduit. Remove it and then pull down on the pedal cluster from the upper piece. Maneuvre the cluster over the knuckle for the steering column and you're golden.

This should look familiar for you G60 and Corrado owners... It's the same stuff. NOTE: If you find a donor Passat that has the clutch pedal bent like my old one was, don't get it. It may fit, but it's not the one that was put out with the G60 GTI, so it might not fit the tub in quite the same way.


This is what will keep the pedal cluster in if you don't remove the retaining clip on the backside. Once your clutch cable is unhooked, you can simply pull it out from the engine side


If you have a full 02J tranny, you shouldn't need the slave cylinder (outlined in blue). Looks like I have an extra part though....yay! It's important to note that that funky-looking bracket on the far left is quite important as the little hole is where the clutch master cylinder (far right) comes through the "modified" firewall (see FutrellWorks VR6 writeup for a pic...for now.)
What's missing from the picture is the brake reservoir and the overflow. The cable-clutch models don't have the little connection for the blue hose on the clutch master cylinder. I'll be getting the scrapyard to give me that too. They forgot it.


I guess I'm going from drive by cable to drive by wire eh?



12-16-2005

OK, some more. Working on the drive-by wire stuff. At first, it looked a little daunting, but thankfully I have some spare parts to do my mad science on before mangling the Passat pedal cluster. I think it will be pretty easy in the end run.

So, Drive by wire is basically a self-contained pedal that has a flat backing. Hmm. The stock pedal cluster does not have a convenient flat spot to put that up against. Neither does the Passat Pedal cluster.

So, out comes the measuring tape.....about a million measurements later, I discovered this....

1. The stock pedal, when fully extended, sits about 22.5-23.3 cm from the backplate. When fully depressed, it sits at about 19 cm.
2. The Drive-by Wire pedal when in it's normal resting place (fully extended) is about 19-19.3 cm from it's own back (there are two little posts on the back that add about 2-3mm). When it's fully depressed, it sits at 14.5 cm.

What this means is that both the pedals have approximately the same pedal travel. Also, if you look at the picture above, you'll notice that the DBW pedal has 2 little notches on the housing on either side of the pedal lever. This is the axis of the lever. And guess what... the stock pedal has the same length and axis (despite different design).

Sooooooo, if you lign up the axis points you have the same "Y" axis for the pedal (if you stand the pedal cluster up on its bottom now, the pedals should have the same vertical orientation as the stock setup.

But wait! Life is not all about 1 dimension. What happened to the "X" and "Z" axes?

Remember that the pedals have about the same amount of travel, but the depth of the pedals is different because the DBW pedal is a: obviously not designed for this pedal cluster, and b: is not mounted, so of course it looks shorter.

So, I know what the fully-extended, mounted, stock pedal depth is from the backplane (23.3 cm). So I need to make the DBW pedal the same depth when fully extended as the stock setup. Some simple math (23.3 -19) gives you the distance the DBW pedal needs to be away from the backplate (4-4.3 cm). OK, now we're getting somewhere.

If you look at the right side of the cluster, you see that there are only a few things obstructing you from mounting the new pedal to the rail. 1. The right pivot hole for the old pedal, and 2. the upper pedal stopper. Hmm. If I could just bend those 2 things outward and flat, I'd have the start of a mounting surface.

I scored the side of the Passat cluster with a screwdriver. Guess how wide a 2x4 is? Worked like a charm. I just lined it up against the side and scored it real easy like.

OK, so let's practice on something first cause I don't want to ruin the pedal cluster I just paid 200 bux for..... Ahah, the defenseless "old" pedal cluster has a quite similar setup and may actually be harder to do the mod, so away we go. Now for some pics.

Using vice-grips to bend the metal. A torch would have probably helped on this setup, but the Passat one may be easier, as seen below


The Passat Pedal cluster, scored with a screwdriver. Notice there is more metal to work with, so the bending should be easier and cleaner.




The brake pedal in the stock setup is 6 cm away from the left side of the accelerator pedal. Now, X, Y, and Z orientation is taken care of.


The work isn't over yet. I have to fabricate a metal plate that can be bolted to the newly created flanges on the right side of the pedal cluster. I also want to have the plate cross and hookup to the brake pedal bracket, bolting into the remaining pivot hole for the old pedal, and also through the holes that are in the bracket to accomodate a cable clutch spring (which isn't needed. the hydraulic cluch pedal has its spring in a different place).

So now I have 4 mounting places to bend into the plate. I may just get a flat piece of metal with some 90 degree little elbows and bolt or weld them onto the plate.

The plate also has to accomodate the 2 pins on the back of the DBW pedal, as well as provide for 3 mounting holes for the pedal itself. I also want to drill a hole to allow me to undo the pedal cluster/master cylinder bolt the the plate would normally obscure.

So that's it for now. More tomorrow.


 << Back Next >>

PROJECTS

1992 Golf-TDI Swap (dubCanuck1)

1992 Golf-TDI Swap; The Swap Saga Strikes Back!