So I’ve been following the various “dead pedal” discussions and I do understand that the primary use of these devices is to ease movement on/off the clutch pedal for manual transmission cars. But even us auto trans guys can use a left side footrest now and again.

About two months ago I checked the left side toe-board area on my car and saw that the carpet was getting significant wear over there. I didn’t much care for the formal dead pedal pieces that were being offered – they seemed to be overkill for what I wanted. Also, nothing matched the UPR pedal covers that I installed about a year ago. So I decided to make my own matching dead pedal/footrest. What follows is how I built and installed it.

I decided that would use an accelerator pedal cover from UPR as the shell for the footrest. So I ordered another set of pedal covers from UPR. They wouldn’t sell just the accelerator pedal but they did give me a nice price on the second set. Because it’s just a cover, I then needed something to form the “body” of the pedal. I decided to cut a chunk out of my driver’s side floor mat and trim that to fit to be the pedal body. That is much less drastic than it sounds because the driver's mat was quite well worn in the right foot/accelerator area and it was time to replace the mat anyway.

The first picture below shows what I thought would be the needed parts – note the notches in the top and bottom of the pad to allow the screws to clear. The pedal cover is bowed slightly to fit the curve of the accelerator pedal, but for this use it needs to be straightened slightly to better fit the flat toe-board surface. So I set it flat on the workbench top and gently pressed it down with the heel of my hand to straighten it somewhat. Don't press too hard or you may break it.

I thought my install would be rather straight forward. Just punch holes in the carpet with an awl, mark the sheet metal below with the awl, drill holes to accept the screws and assemble. Well, it didn’t exactly go that way!

First, I sat in the car and placed my foot where it normally rests (and caused the wear); then I slipped my foot out of the shoe, leaving it in place and marked the top of the area (toe of the shoe) with masking tape and also placed tape at the bottom of the toe-board area so that I had mounting reference points. I removed the door sill cover and the LH front kick plate so that I could have access to the underside of the carpet. Then I punched the holes through the carpet – but the awl didn’t strike metal immediately as I expected – in fact, I don’t think I ever actually punched through to the sheet metal at all! It seems that there is a dense foam pad that covers the entire toe-board and it is about 1.5 inches thick. To do what I had planned would require a pair of screws about 2.5 inches long!
So I changed my plan. I decided to use the little screw-in plastic anchors that are used in drywall board – put them into the foam and then screw my pedal through the carpet into the anchors. And I did just that, as the pics below demonstrate. This is not a high load/stress area so the anchors should serve quite well and I didn’t have to go through the sheet metal.

The result is my own custom UPR-based left-side footrest. The whole project didn’t take but about an hour to do. I finished it off by installing a new floor mat from my stash. This scheme will probably work with most any available pedal cover including the Shelby or Bullitt styles.

PS: By stash, I mean my collection of stock replacement floor mats. I got a deal on eBay last year – 3 driver-side mats for $25.00! I’m replacing a driver-side mat about every year and likely never will need to replace the passenger side.

 

Nice clean looking install....good job!

 

That looks real clean and professional! Great job.

 

I like it.Very Creative , however I think I'll wait for the gt5oo dead pedal to hit the market.

 

you can also buy the Saleen pedal kit, and just use the dead pedal bracket and pedal. that's what I did, because I was upset at the fact that the pedals were plastic and not metal.

so, i kept the dead pedal and bracket, and sold the other pieces on ebay. The bracket alone was worth the $ of the pedals, as the bracket is nicely made. The pedals, on the other hand, are questionable.

Also, the one saleen pedal doesn't even look bad or out of place with the GT500 pedals.

 

i am thinking about ordering the saleen kit but with the real GT500 padals (meaning the whole gas pedal assembly instead of the stick on cover)

 

Somewhat confused...the saleen kit is different than the GT500 kit. Are you planning on just using the dead pedal from the saleen kit, and using GT500 pedals for the others.

In regard to the stick on cover: I, too, was a little concerned with just using the tape/glue to keep the cover on the pedal. But, once I saw how it installed, it looked fine. Knock wood, I haven't had any issues with it yet, and the price difference seems pretty steep to have the full pedal. JMO

The clutch and the brake are just slip on, so those don't matter

 

yeah i am just going to use the saleen dead padal and use the factory GT500 pedals but in the auto version (used on some GT/CS's)

 

Does anyone know of a dead pedal that actually changes the angle of the pedal? I still think the stock dead pedal is at an awkward angle.

 

the saleen dead pedal uses a bracket that goes in front of the "stock" deal pedal area. it is like the dead pedals off 99-04 mustangs

 

I just got my saleen pedals today, i ordered them from saleen in september!, but ya their plastic and i dont think im gonna change them. I got my car used and the original owner put the track series pedals from ichibahn

http://www.ichibahn.com/frame2005.html

mine are aluminum with black inserts...a little on the ricer side, but they are good enough...

 

Just sent another e-mail to CDC asking when they will have the dead pedal to match the GT500 covers. I'll let you know when they reply.

 

CHRISM:: very nice install !