After boxing the 'rails, adding an X-member, and building some engine and trans mounts for the stock frame of Ron Werderitsch's '30 Model A coupe, Chad Blundell and Greg Gillaspy at Blundell Speed & Machine wanted to upgrade the clutch and brake pedal assembly. The assembly in the car was vibrating a lot, and the clutch was too stiff for enjoyable driving.
The K-member from Dagel's Rod N Truck was designed for mounting a Corvette master cylinder underneath the seat. Chad wanted to relocate the master cylinder to a more accessible spot and install a hydraulic clutch to reduce the stiffness. A search through some old auto parts catalogs yielded the perfect solution to all the problems.
The '61-66 International trucks in the 100 series and 1000 series ran a single-unit clutch and brake master cylinder, mounted at the firewall. On this Model A, it would fit perfectly frame-mounted in the stock battery location, which is easily accessible through the floor-but relocating it rearward +of the pedals meant the master cylinder would be facing away from the pedals, and rotating it would flip the clutch and brake positions. The solution was a custom-fabricated bellcrank. We heard about the project and headed to the shop to follow the job. It took a lot of parts fabrication and modification, not to mention a lot of imagination, but these guys do that for a living. And, some of you do it for a hobby.
Kugel's PedalsA variety of alternative brake and clutch assemblies are available from Kugel Komponents. In addition to the standard through-the-firewall style, Kugel offers a reverse-mount underdash 90-degree setup (below), as well as a 180-degree assembly (left). Both are available for brake and clutch, or brake-only applications.
Jeff Kugel told us these compact products were created to address the problem of fitting these assemblies on smaller roadsters where space wasn't available under the frame or under the dash.
He emphasized that fitting a systems under an already-built car is more difficult than installing it at the beginning of a build. Trying to fit other components-such as A/C or other obstacles-around the pedal and master cylinder assembly is much easier than trying to fit the assembly around those other parts. If that sounds like where you're at, take a look at these two products, or go to the Kugel Web site for even more.
