aka 'Nothing is as easy as it looks!'...

From a pre-holiday thread in this forum, I decided to get these (1000) pedals which looked good, had a nice grippy surface, and were "easy to install"... (HT names being withheld to protect the guilty.) Pics were posted by those who had installed these, so I thought I could do this, too...
First I got wrestled off the old pieces, and since it was so cold the plastic gas pedal part snapped in half and scratched my cheek as it flew off! This only took 5 minutes, so I thought I'd drill six holes, line 'em up, bolt 'em on, and I'll be done within an hour! The saga begins...
From advice in the thread, I started with the gas pedal (for alignment reasons). Well, that was the hardest one to do, because of the very limited space for the new holes, and that damn "elbow" bracket on the back of the accelerator. To get a good alignment, my bottom hole went right into this bracket, and I couldn't get the nut on underneath. Out come the dremel tools to reduce this elbow, and after a half hour or so I got the bottom half of the OMP part on. (I had to bend the bottom half of the gas up to get the dremel underneath, remove some metal, bend the pedal back down and try the fit again!) Eventually I got the OMP pedal on, then found I could still see the mount area underneath the top left side! More grinding finally got it to where I could only see the OMP pedal, then onto the brake and clutch... There was more room for hole locations on these mounts, but I was unable to use a punch to start my holes. Because of the dash and pedal angles, I couldn't depress the pedal down, hold the punch, and swing the hammer! This also made drilling at an angle a real p.i.t.a., and I almost drilled my fingers and floor several times. (Finally put some plywood temp. underneath!) Once again, with the brake and clutch now on, I could still see the larger support pieces they were attached to, so more dremelling was needed on both!...
Almost three hours later, I was finally done, and very satisifed with the results. The OMP 1000 pedals <u>are</u> great, and I'm glad I got them. How others installed these without the alignment/size problems remains a mystery, but I suspect they said it was easier than it really is. (Or they had anticipated all the difficulties I hadn't!)
But, it was well worth the $30 and three hours....

Cliff Notes: Spent three hours freezing, cursing, drilling, and dremelling to install OMP pedals, after thinking it was going to be a pleasant one hour with my caR.

(End of rant.)

 

Tip #1: don't attempt plastic stock pedal removal in the wintertime
Tip #2: raise the car to waist level on a hoist when doing the pedals - much easier access and no back pain

 

And now the Nice Fitting, Easy to install Mugen Pedals look like a good deal at ~$160

 

I'm still laughing so hard and trying nnot to hyperventilate,

I loved: "HT names being withheld to protect the guilty."
I might even be one who would be listed, I must clarify that Rodney installed mine, I just helped.

"it was so cold the plastic gas pedal part snapped in half and scratched my cheek as it flew off! " I loved this one!

"and I almost drilled my fingers and floor several times." and this one.

"Almost three hours later, I was finally done, " 3 hours? Ha ha ha holy Phu cker, ha ha ha.. Again I reitterate, I WATCHED Rodeny install mine! And have no basis for which to poke fun but, 3 hours? Mine took 30 minutes.

"The OMP 1000 pedals are great, and I'm glad I got them. How others installed these without the alignment/size problems remains a mystery, but I suspect they said it was easier than it really is."

Yes they are great and I'm glad you enjoy 'em. The alignment problems were not really problems when we did 'em, we just scribed the pedal with a punch and drilled the holes and Voila!

Good luck,

hope you take this the right way but, what other mods have you installed yourself?

A. have fun

 

Glad you enjoyed it. I posted this knowing some might think it was kind of funny, and I do myself in retrospect... At one point I almost gave up, but then realized that since I had ground the pedal mounts I couldn't even reuse the original rubber ones (that didn't break) unless I used an adhesive!

A lesson learned - what seems easy to one person may not be so to another!

 

i think i might be one of the guilty ones. I had a hell of a time with the gas pedal too, but i recommended you start with this one first because i did it in the opposite order and i had to redrill my clutch pedal because it was to low, plus you got the hardest pedal out of the way first. it wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't cold out. glad to hear you like them though.

 

Took me 20min.

There are two tricks.

1 - Use a right angle drill!

2 - Get a longer bolt for the bottom of the gas peddle.

Did I tell you that it took me 20min? About half of that was spent digging through my spare conical allen kart bolt supply for one that would fit.

 

mine are a little crooked, but I tell people that I did that on purpose so I don't bump the brake pedal.

 

I hate it when it seems so easy but it always takes so long. Everything seems easier than it really is...

 

I'm going to be putting mine in this week .. I'm thinking about doing some deep breathing exercises to maintain mental clarity

Glad I read this thread before starting though!