Shorten clutch pedal?

[Swordsmith]

And the answer is, 3/8ths of an inch over the stock spacer seems to be about the maximum bump stop. One washer higher, the car will not start. I guess I could try adding in a thinner washer, but I don't really think I would be able to feel the difference.

 

[ss2000slp]

I wonder if we can do a clutch delay bypass like the famous MFab bypass bypass. Still don't think it will do anything about the particular problem the higher bump stop is addressing though.

That's what I was thinking. New job now, so not sure how the new shop will be about me tearing into my own car after hours. Find out soon enough, but you are probably correct in assuming it won't help with the pedal height/engagement point.

 

[Swordsmith]

Update: 3/8ths of an inch is really too high, on a practical basis: If you don't press down down hard enough on the pedal, the car will not start. That's not a problem, but it suggests that the switch is also not being engaged sometimes during normal shifting or idling, and since the ECU makes some decisions based on that switch, it is probably a bad thing. Taking it to 5/16ths this morning (a matter of removing one washer.)

 

[ChrisJ]

If this is a permanent mod it concerns me only because of my past experience with my truck. As everything wore, the clutch ended up not completely disengaging even when jammed to the floor. This was due to the fork being worn where the throwout bearing rides, the fork being worn where it pivots on the ball and the ball being worn. When all of the parts were replaced the clutch disengaged completely about an inch off of the floor.

The other interesting part of this was with the clutch working correctly in the truck the pedal would get harder and harder as the clutch disengaged but then it would get really easy as you went past that point. So when you were sitting with your foot to the floor you didn't need much pressure. When everything was worn to **** you weren't past the hump so the clutch was barely disengaged (or later still grabbing some) and you were applying full pressure to hold the pedal jammed to the floor.

I'm guessing the Sonic is an entirely different animal but I'm sure parts will still wear. My point being you don't know how this may effect it many miles down the road and because you cannot adjust a hydraulic clutch it could really suck.


Just sharing my thoughts, I know some guys are going to think "so what?" and that's fine. If it's a simple mod that can easily be undone then go for it.

 

[Swordsmith]

It is a very simple and cheap mod, and I undid it about 6 times in under 5 minutes while looking for the maximum possible height. If the type of wear you saw on your truck happens here, it will be very easy to take this mod back down a little, or all the way to the floor. But the current engage area is an inch or more past the switch area, so we have a long way to degrade before this becomes an issue, if I am understanding it correctly.

 

[ChrisJ]

It is a very simple and cheap mod, and I undid it about 6 times in under 5 minutes while looking for the maximum possible height. If the type of wear you saw on your truck happens here, it will be very easy to take this mod back down a little, or all the way to the floor. But the current engage area is an inch or more past the switch area, so we have a long way to degrade before this becomes an issue, if I am understanding it correctly.

Yeah I think you understood correctly.
However it seemed like small amounts of wear, maybe a few thousandths on the fork made a large difference at the pedal.