This is somewhat long, but with details......

I finally got my AE automatic pedal set installed this evening. These AE parts are spiffy but they are definetly getting to be a pain in the **** to install, minus the sill plates.

The brake pedal cover is just a cover, but the gas pedal is a direct replacement, but NOT the entire gas pedal arm
which extends up into the dash.

A handy item to have is a miniature mirror, as to look behind the pedals to see how they are secured. The pedals do not look close to the floor board until you get right down there and need some room. I suppose if you have a pea
head no mirror is needed. My head must be fat.

To install the brake pedal part:
(1) Using your fingers behind the corners and peel the pedal off. Start on a corner and work one end. Once you get
it going it comes right off.

(2) You should be looking at the brake pedal backing, which looks just like the pad but is metal. You should be
holding the old brake pedal pad. Set this aside.

(3) Take a deep breath. Relax. Take another deep breath and commence the wailing and gnashing of teeth.

(4) Start at the top by sliding the top of the pad over the metal backing. Here is where it gets fun. The remainder
of the pad will not want to conform to the pedal backing.

(5) I found the easiest thing to do was to grab the bottom of the ae brake pedal cover, using both hands, spread
out my fingers and rolled back the "lip" of the cover. This was all done with the top securely in place. The idea
is to stretch the lip out, evenly across the bottom including the corners, keeping your fingers oh so close to the metal backing. You'll think your fingers are going to get caught in there. Release and hope you hooked the bottom. This will take some effort and time. If you are doing it right, you are face-to-face with the brake pedal cover, your shoulders are arms tense trying to fit it, and your legs flailing about outside the car, with many "adjectives" describing the process. It is not too much fun.

(6) Once you feel the top and bottom is in place, all around should be flush and none of the "lip" curled under. For any spots where the lip is curled under, kind of tug and massage these areas, almost plucking from inside out, until these spots get ironed out. Again, a mirror is handy to "look" back there.

(7) It should look and feel good as new.

To install the gas pedal part:
(1) Using a medium size flat blade screw driver, wedge the end just below the rubber pedal, and just above a clip. Get
down there are eye ball it real close and you will see some plast wrapped around the medal rod. You'll see were the
plastic was afixed to the other plastic. Lift the screw driver up towards the steering wheel. The clip will peel
off going downward and towards the transmission cover. Note that the other side of the clip which you can not see
is attached to the pedal itself. More on this later.

(2) Once the clip is released, pull the top of the gas pedal towards you, and wiggle the bottom part off. Yes, the
bottom is attached to the rod also.

(3) At this point, I realized something was different between to the two pedals. Damn. The original pedal has a round whole the bottom part of the gas pedal arm was stuck in. It was as round as the gas pedal arm. However, the ae
gas medal just had an square opening. This meant the end of the gas pedal rod would bang around in that square
opening. A quick call to David Burnette found that no parts are missing or extra needed, according to the proper
documentation. The first thing which came to mind was a nylon (plastic) spacer, to make the square opening round, so
the gas pedal arm could fit in there.

(4) I went to Lowe's to get a nylon spacer. It is size .562 X .375 X 1/2 Two to a baggie. It costed $0.62. I am sure any hardware store/Home Depot would carry these.

(5) I had to sand one side of the nylon spacer because it was a hair to big to fit into the ae gas pedal. Also,
the opening of the spacer was not big enough to fit over the gas pedal metal rod. I used a Dremel tool, with a
miniature sandpaper head, and hollowed out the inside of the nylon spacer just a little, until I could slide the
spacer over the metal rod.

(6) The clip which came off will fit onto the new pedal. However, the long end, may still be stuck to the original
pedal. Twist, pull, pry it off the original pedal. It comes off easily. Once you do this, the clip will have one
size longer than the other. Sand down one of the "feet" to make them about the same size, or else it will not fit
onto the new pedal.

(7) Install in reverse order. The clip may give you some difficulty. I had to sand mine a little where the metal
rod meets the clip. I made that groove a hair more shallow. I used plyers to get it to 'click' into place.

Now I have a perfect fit, clean looking pedal area, that looks good too!

 

Lots of steps. Nice going!

 

Mdeal,

You are absolutely right about the brake pedal installation - you use many adjectives and it sucks. After 10 unsuccessful attempts and a call to Dave Burnette, there is one step that he told me that eases the installation a little bit and I hope you don't mind if I post it.

If you put a towel inside the car under the brake pedal and then take the new AE pad and while you are OUTSIDE of the car, soak the inside of the AE pad with some WD-40. Then proceed to attach the pedal pad just as mdeal describes. The towel will catch any WD-40 that drips and you will use far less adjectives. After about 10 minutes with your door open, your car will air out and there will be no WD-40 smell.


I really appreciate your instructions because I have been UNABLE to get the gas pedal on, and they are great. I am on my way to Lowe's to get the spacers now. Thanks again.

 

I actually thought about using some lubricant of sorts to make it easier to work with the rubber on the metal in getting the brake pad on, but I thought if it got wet/slimy/etc, it may make it worse by me not being able to get a good grip on it.

Good luck on the gas pedal, and let me know if you have any questions.

 

I know - I had the same fear, but it actually worked. I am doing the pedal tomorrow. I found the right spacers at Lowe's and I am going to try it in the morning. I will post here if I have questions or problems. Thanks again.

 

Be sure you file down, a little, the spacer you purchased. It is a hair too big for the opening in the new pedal. Remember, you are fitting a round object into a square hole. It is oh so close. You could almost force it in there. If you look at the old pedal, you will see it has the round spacer "built in". You want to replicate this on the new pedal, with the part you purchased.

Also, I mentioned using a Dremel tool to "hollow out" the spacer. You could use a regular drill just as well.

You want the spacer to be snug on the gas pedal metal rod: not tight but not loose. The spacer's only purpose is to keep the bottom of the pedal secure to the rod.

Get the spacer the right size by trying to install directly on the metal rod. Once it fits, then install it on the pedal itself, then install the pedal assembly.

You'll see what I mean once you start messin' with it.

Take "baby steps" and it will all fall into place. Trust me.