Date:         Tue, 12 May 2009 10:33:14 -0400
Reply-To:     Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@MAC.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@MAC.COM>
Subject:      Re: broken gas pedal
In-Reply-To:  <20090512073213.887CD23307D@pop4.cfu.net>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes

Bah. Replacing the rivets with oh, say, new rivets, is a one person
job, takes only a couple of minutes, and will last another 20 years.


On May 12, 2009, at 3:32 AM, Max Wellhouse wrote:

> Joy:  Mike is right about this fix being a 2 person job.  I would
> only add that when I did this repair, I reamed out the two holes with
> a 3/16th's " drill bit and installed stainless steel  phillips head
> machine screws(#10 or 3/`16th" available at most any hardware store
> like an Ace or Trustworthy or Tru-Value) and stainless steel washers
> on both sides.  I wanted this to be the last time I had to "screw"
> with this repair.  Our local Ace Hardware store has an awesome
> selection of stainless steel fasteners, but I'm sure others do
> too.  Tools needed to do the repair would be something to scrape all
> the mud and grunge away from the area, a proper sized phillips screw
> driver, the aforementioned drill and bit,and a 1/4" drive rachet with
> a long extension and a 3/8" socket; a deep wall socket if you use a
> long screw.  tighten the screws so they are firmly in there, but not
> so tight that you stress the plastic in to cracking.  There's an
> outside chance that it's the rivets that failed in the floorboard and
> not the hinge failing, but Matilda maybe deserves a new pedal after
> all these years.  I priced the little piece of linkage that connects
> from the pedal to the bell crank under the van and they wanted like
> $25 for that little piece of steel.  I think even Bus Depot gets like
> $12 or 13 last time I checked.
>
> A 3/8th's inch wrench or even a vice grip will work in a pinch if
> tools are hard to come by, but that forces the person inside the van
> to do all the twisting and the initial resistance with the nylox nuts
> is sufficient to give the average forearm muscle serious fatigue.
>
> T
>
> FWIW, mine failed a year or two ago when it was below zero out and
> that was one cold repair.  Finding a fellow co-worker to help was a
> challenge in the company parking lot.
>
> DM&FS
>
>
>> Joy Hecht wrote:
>>> The bottom end of the pedal, which apparently should be attached to
>>> something in the floor, is not
>>> attached to anything.
>>
>>
>> From the factory, the pedal was attached to the floor with two
>> rivets.
>> Those rivets broke on my '84 automatic and I fixed them with screws
>> and nuts.  In that I usually work alone, I had no one to hold the
>> nuts
>> to get the screws started so I used JB Quick to attach them to the
>> underside then put the screws in from the top.
>>
>> They later broke on my '85 standard ... away from home, of course,
>> so I
>> punched out what remained of the broken rivets and ran long wood
>> screws
>> through from the top.  They didn't actually screw to anything ...
>> they
>> just sat in the holes.  Anyway, that "Temporary" fix to get me home
>> lasted over a year until I put screws and nuts on there.
>>
>> Mike