Project 3P, Part 14: How to Adjust a Stupidly High Fiat 128 Brake Pedal (Fiat 128 3P Restoration)

Chris' 128 sedan for attention. (You're probably tired of seeing P3P by now!)

Followers of P3P's progress may remember that brake pedal adjustment was on the agenda. The pedal was way too tall at about 20 mm above the height of the clutch and significantly further for the throttle, making heel-toe downshift blipping impossible. This was dangerous, too; the possibility of not being able to hit the anchors quickly enough in an emergency was significant.

This shows how high the brake pedal was when compared to the clutch. The brake / throttle disparity was far greater!

Why this was so is anyone's guess! Mine is that there's a non-original part in the system - maybe a close-enough-is-good-enough brake booster from another car - for instance. Either way, something didn't quite measure up.

An inspection of the set-up that transfers the right-hand-drive pedal action to the left-side-mounted brake booster failed to find the splined shaft that I was expecting. There wasn't a turnbuckle type thing, an arm with multiple pivots or a threaded end on the booster's actuator pin, either. I couldn’t find an obvious adjustment mechanism at all!

Neither my trusty Autobooks manual or the internet was able to provide any advice on how the pedal might be lowered. My mechanic was similarly flummoxed.

Fellow 128 enthusiast Chris got me started, explaining that the same plastic screw switch that adjusts the brake light's on-point also lowered the height of the pedal. It certainly helped and got the pedal 10mm or so lower. Close but still that cigar eluded me!

This switch doubles as a pedal height adjustor and brake light actuator. Screwing it out - making it longer - pushes the pedal towards the floor. Care is needed not to overdo this, though; if over-adjusted, it can engage the brakes slightly so that they remain on, even when there’s no pressure on the pedal.

Top-down view, taken from the car's LHS.

So how to lose another 10 - 20 mm? Time for some lateral thinking!

As mentioned before, there’s no adjustment thread on the pin that actuates the booster. That got me thinking that if said pin’s travel couldn’t be made shorter, maybe the booster could be placed further away Something to do with that chap who wouldn’t go to the mountain having the mountain brought to him. But in reverse, obviously.

But how? Three 10 x 1mm flat washers on each of the four studs that connect the booster to the bracket that connects the whole shebang to the firewall did the trick. Simple!

All that was needed was to remove each stud's nut and to slide the washers in, one at a time. This effectively reduced the actuator pin's length by 3mm, dropping the brake pedal by a good deal more, bearing in mind that the pedal arm is quite long and good distance from its pivot point. The nuts still engage fully with the studs, the distal face of each one being flush with the stud ends. Nothing else had to be disconnected; the booster was pulled free of the bracket without anything falling off or going out of alignment.

As a result, the pedal is at a normal height, making the car far easier to drive - especially when double-de-clutch downshifting into second with its dodgy syncro. It's also handy to be able to tickle the throttle when the car's cold and on the verge of stalling whilst coming to a stop.

Much, much better!

U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

EJ or EH Holden? (Up-dated December, 2022)

EJ or the later EH? Several years ago, I posed the question: Can somebody please explain the difference between an EJ and an EH Holden ute or van? The response at the time wasn't overwhelming, so I did a bit of Googling and ferreting through my photos and came up with my own rough guide to EJ and EH identification. Sedans and wagons are easy to tell apart ; the EH's vertical rectangular tail lights are a dead give-away. However, the workhorse versions of both models share the rear-end treatment of the earlier EJ, making it harder to identify one from the other. No super obvious hints here. Or here ... . It turns out that the main clues are in the placement of the front H O L D E N lettering and GMH lion emblems, the style of the radiator grille and the width of the vents in front of the windscreen, with all EJs - sedans, wagons, utes and vans - having one combination and the EH line-up having their own . So what exactly are those diffe

Vick Auto Prima Fiat X1/9 Brakes: An Owner’s Assessment

At the end of 2022, I fitted a set of Vick Autosport Prima front brakes to my mildly worked 1.5 litre Series 1 Fiat X1/9 . I was fortunate, having picked them up at a very, very reasonable price, brand new but surplus to the needs of a fellow X1/9 Australia member who had imported them from the US. The kit included: New single pot callipers , new vented rotors (standard X1/9 front rotors are smaller, non-vented items), DOT approved stainless steel brake hoses, and all the necessary mounting hardware. They are a value proposition, being particularly well priced compared to other manufacturers’ packages - even at RRP - with everyone I’ve spoken to saying they’re made to a high standard, too. Here's a link to a piece that I wrote about them at that time, including some costings: https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-x19-gets-prima-brake-upgrade.html . Initial Assessment: I was a little underwhelmed by the brakes' performance, finding that although they had a tiny

Random # 301: Nanna-Spec KE36 Corolla

Once upon a time - six or seven years ago, actually - there was a lovely pale yellow GC Galant station wagon getting around Hobart. It was totally nanna-spec; its paint was umarked, the chrome work and hubcaps were immaculate, and its very original interior was pristine. Then someone stuck feathers in its dashboard. Next, the windows were adorned with Tibetan prayer flags. And a hubcap went missing. And the the rear bumper was pushed in, mangling the bodywork behind it. And a mudguard got dented. And rust set in. I fear for this sweet, innocent KE36 Corolla. Somebody please save it before it's too late. Nanna needs you to do it. U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) Photos by GlamRock.

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