Gas pedal riding low?

[ultralite]

My gas pedal started riding low. I can still drive it but there is very little travel in the pedal at all. After pressing it down it doesn’t come back up as far as it once did. Everything back at the carb looks okay and back to original position.

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Godspeed

'76 Beetle (sold)
'69 Beetle (sold)
'72 BMW 2002 (RIP)
'69 Westy
'02 BMW wagon AWD w/stick shift(sold)
'67 Beetle (sold)

[Wildthings]

The whole system tends to wear out with time, lots of threads on this. You might start by replacing the cable as they do not last forever. Buy two so you have a spare to carry with you.

[KentABQ]

And you might consider replacing the pedal linkage with one from Butty's Bits.
https://www.buttysbits.com/product-category/bay-window/throttle-kits/

I ordered mine from the UK, but someone is now retailing then in the US. Not sure who though.
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-Kent-
1976 Riviera, 1.8l FI chrome yellow VAN - "Chloe"

"I must say, how can you be in a bad mood driving this vehicle full of vibrant color.
Cars of today are so bland in comparison. It's like driving a celebration!" ---WildIdea

Bus ownership via emoticons:
---williamM

[EDragnDean]

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1943614
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63 Double Cab http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=443823&highlight=deanos
66 Bus Click to view image - SOLD
73 Thing http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8111202#8111202
70 BusClick to view image

[Wildthings]

FWIW, the hinge for the pedal on my 77 rusted apart about 10 years back and I cut down a standard door hinge and used it. Way sturdier than the original VW pedal hinge.

[SGKent]

oil the hinges. That helps. Also brush and vacuum behind the peadl down in the hinge area, Usually they are packed with dirt and rust.
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"Most people don't know what they're doing, and a lot of them are really good at it." - George Carlin

[timvw7476]

when the gas pedal lays there like a semi-dead thing, it's a good idea to
remove the splash pan & study the 'Z' bar from pedal to bellcrank, it
shifts off center & ends up giving you about 65% throttle travel.
You can buy one of those nice throttle kits from the UK, or take your
throttle/pedal rod to the hardware store & get some ferrules/washers
and some type of E clips or hairspring fasteners to restore full pedal
travel till your beautiful aluminum linkage arrives. I did the hardware
store trip & may get the good throttle linkage.....some day.

[LazyLightning75]

Great suggestions from the group and a familiar situation for me. If you pull your splash pan off and remove your pedal, you can get a better idea of what’s going on. I had a broken spring and a really worn pedal rod that was creating a “squishy” pedal. I bought one of the Butty’s Bits kits and replaced the hardware below the pedal. Took all of about 20 minutes and really worked well. Some before and after pics below.

Before:

After:

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1975 Riviera 1.8L FI

[Tom Powell]

I had a sloppy gas pedal because the c-clip fell off. The linkage was intact, but sloppy. A temporary repair was made with tiny vise grip pliers. A permanent replacement was made by drilling the linkage and using a cotter pin and washers.

Aloha
tp

[SGKent]

be aware that different years have different linkages under the floor.
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"Most people don't know what they're doing, and a lot of them are really good at it." - George Carlin