Gas pedal with bad "feel"

[challenger]

My gas pedal has never had a good feel. I have messed with springs and it still feels bad. It is more difficult to depress than I'd like. The main issue is that the transition from idle (no foot presure) to light throttle is difficult to do smoothly. It takes an amount of pressure that causes me to press the pedal too far once I get the pedal started. I don't know if this is a good description but it's all I can't think of. Is there a better combination of springs behind, and in front of, where the throttle attaches.?
Thanks

 

[commando1]

How does it feel when you move the throttle by hand at the carburetor?
What is the carb.
What is the intake manifold.

 

[live4theking]

Is it binding somewhere? Maybe pinched...?

 

[detmatt]

That's a good explanation and it needs to be fixed as it sounds potentially dangerous.

 

[The Horvaths]

A picture would help. It is possible that someone foobared the pedal and linkages together in the past.

 

[rags]

throttle blades sticking in the bores? rusty kickdown?

 

[challenger]

throttle blades sticking in the bores? rusty kickdown?

The carb is fine and all the pieces and parts are free with no binding. The cable is loose and moves smoothly etc etc. No bends or kinks. I'm pretty sure I don't have the proper springs on the throttle OR the return.
spring that's built into the edelbrock carb that is have is too strong
I'd love to post a photo but I can't even get through a typical reply using my phone on this site without having to retrace and retype several times. I love the site but the mobile interface makes my *** ache. Maybe I'll take a picture and upload it later from my laptop. Thanks

 

[rags]

had a carb with a loose throttle shaft. q-jet. with the engine off the throttle was fine. hit it with some vacuum and it would hang up bad.

 

[challenger]

Maybe I'll take another look at the whole setup. This carb is almost new. I forget what the throttle was like with the original carb. The only problem is the idle to off idle transition. If I drove the car every day I'd get the sensitivity down but I don't. Hard to explain. I can mash it from idle if I want to take off hard and there is no perceptible issue but when I ease on the pedal for a soft take off I have to press harder than I think I should and it takes a concerted effort to not give it too much throttle from idle to off idle.

 

[Yatzee]

My gas pedal has never had a good feel. I have messed with springs and it still feels bad. It is more difficult to depress than I'd like. The main issue is that the transition from idle (no foot presure) to light throttle is difficult to do smoothly. It takes an amount of pressure that causes me to press the pedal too far once I get the pedal started. I don't know if this is a good description but it's all I can't think of. Is there a better combination of springs behind, and in front of, where the throttle attaches.?
Thanks

You have a few factors occurring when you first press the pedal, initial resistance being the main factor. The throttle lever down at the tranny could well be one but I think that the attachment point of the trottle cable at the carb is the main culprit, let me explain. Leverage of the carb bracket is determined by the distance of the cable attachment from the center point of the throttle shift. Increase this distance and it's much easier to move the carb bracket with the throttle cable, but there exists the possibility of not having enough movement in the cable to go from idle to WOT. You have to set this distance (pull) first. A helper may be required and by no means expect the mounting point on the carb bracket to be ideal. We're talking carbs built to universally fit many engines. Once you get this correct, you can start weighting the movement with a spring. The more coils in the spring for a given length, the softer and more progressive the spring tension. High coil count springs usually have smaller wire diameter coils. Using a piece of wire as a sort of hook, find out where the spring should preload to in order to close the throttle shafts reliably. Leave one end attached to the manifold spring bracket and progressivel shorten the hook at the spring end of the bent wire. That's all that's required, anymore tension is useless and affects pedal pressure in the car. Make absolutely sure there is no binding in the pedal pivot, throttle cable and tranny bell crank and associated rods. You can temporarily disconnect the kick down rod at the carb to see if there's a difference in foot pressure required thus taking this section of linkage out of the equation. Once you get a smooth even transition from idle to WOT you can connect and adjust the tranny throttle rod. Have a host of springs of different lengths and tensions on hand as this is a "trial and error" setup.

 

[1978 NYB]

Old linkage picture of mine.....

 

[1978 NYB]

Stan has an excellent linkage picture that shows perfect detail.

Stan can you post it when you get a chance. Thanks.

 

[LocuMob]

The main issue is that the transition from idle (no foot presure) to light throttle is difficult to do smoothly. It takes an amount of pressure that causes me to press the pedal too far once I get the pedal started

Sounds like too much spring pressure first, then a bind, speaking from experience. I put way too big a spring on and had to stand on the pedal.

 

[detmatt]

Stan has an excellent linkage picture that shows perfect detail.

Stan can you post it when you get a chance. Thanks.

@commando1

 

[cantflip]

Maybe I'll take another look at the whole setup. This carb is almost new. I forget what the throttle was like with the original carb. The only problem is the idle to off idle transition. If I drove the car every day I'd get the sensitivity down but I don't. Hard to explain. I can mash it from idle if I want to take off hard and there is no perceptible issue but when I ease on the pedal for a soft take off I have to press harder than I think I should and it takes a concerted effort to not give it too much throttle from idle to off idle.

You already have lots of good advice here... you really need to post a picture to give the board a chance to spot your problem.

 

[commando1]

Stan has an excellent linkage picture that shows perfect detail.

Stan can you post it when you get a chance. Thanks.

 

[commando1]

Btw, if you use a Holley on an Edelbrock intake, there is linkage hitting the manifold right under the choke. You have to grind a notch in the manifold where it hits.

That's why I asked

How does it feel when you move the throttle by hand at the carburetor?
What is the carb.
What is the intake manifold.

but I never got an answer because everybody is giving solutions without the facts.
This is the reason why I have given up many times trying to help by using actual TROUBLESHOOTING...

 

[challenger]

The throttle feels "OK" when I move it by hand. By OK I mean it moves with no binding of any sort. This is the same if the kickdown linkage is hooked up or not and it's the same with the green spring on or not. The throttle plates don't return to the closed position if I don't have the return spring connected. My return spring is much heavier than the one in the photos so???
It is an Edelbrock carburetor almost identical to the one in the photos and it is on the stock 440HP manifold.
Disregard the wetness on the intake manifold. I washed the motor this AM.

 

[1970cat]

wrong spring. it's way too stiff. probably better suited for a screen door look at stan's pictures for the correct spring.

 

[challenger]

Yes it's the wrong spring BUT I didn't steel it off a screen door. I'd never do something so foolish.
It was a STORM door. The screen door is on the back of the house .
Seriously, if I may, the photo Stan put up has a lighter spring but there is also another wire? Is that just the same spring wire looped around the throttle post? It so long that I can't see an end on it and I don't know if that's the case or if it is something different?
Thanks