RHD conversion for Sofia

[btoran]

Couldn't you guys just leave the cars LHD and put a big mirror in the right hand seat to kind of reverse things?

[Fi8spider]

btoran, good idea, but then where will the sexy chick sit?

[Sambo42]

Thanks guys - the Brains Trust does it again. Fi8spider I thought the easiest way to preserve the geometry would be just to cut and paste from the left side to the right to make sure the brake booster holes and steering column hole end up in the same place in relation to each other but I'll go back and re-look at the measurements. Plus will look for a 124cc accelerator pedal - it might be that I've got one already (is there a mount for that pedal on the inside of the firewall then? I have a bracket and plastic mount that was donated for the conversion - I'm thinking it might be a 124cc one since it's not the same as the spider's)...

[Fi8spider]

Sambo, there is no mount from a standard spider acc pedal which you can use here because our ones are situated on the inner side of the RH wheel arch and is shaped differently. If you have access to a 124 CC being parted out you can unpluck the pedal mount from it then that would save you bending one up and welding the studs into it (I made my own acc mount for my car, not too difficult a task for a man of your capabilities if you need to make one from scratch). My car is in storage so i will try and dig up a photo of a stock coupe one to help you along. You will need the plastic block you mention for the pedal to work.

[Fi8spider]

I fished this one out from another Fiat forum

Not a great photo but at least you get the drift of what I'm on about and can roughly see the relationship to it's positioning and the pedal box.

[Sambo42]

Thanks - I think I have the mount in my box of spares. Will see if I can mock it up on the firewall and show you to check that I've got it right...

[Curly]

Sambo, it looks to me as though you have the power booster /master cylinder assembly sitting about an inch too low and a couple of inches too far towards the centre of the car. If you look at the earlier photos I posted and that by PininF, you'll see where the 4 mounting bolt holes for that assembly are positioned. The inner 2 holes are almost directly beneath the scuttle drain hole.
In regard to the accelerator pedal, scrap the idea of mechanical linkages and go with a cable as Fi8spider suggested. You'll need to fabricate up and weld to the inner firewall /wheel well a small bracket with a couple of threaded studs to mount a pedal assembly from a coupe. It's a bit fiddly to get it set up at he right angle, but it shouldn't be a problem for somebody with your welding ability.
Whilst I was working in the footwell of my Spider, I also made up a mounting bracket to fit a left foot rest against the tunnel. Very comfortable for cruising as well as 'spirited' driving .

[aj81spider]

I know nothing about this, but have a question. You cut an "L" shaped section out and then appear to have simply moved it left. If you are mirroring the steering to the right hand side, shouldn't you have flipped it over so the vertical part of the L was closer to the transmission tunnel like it was on the other side?

Perhaps the L was not for orientation? Like I said, I'm no expert, but it looked wrong to me.

[Fi8spider]

What you're saying is correct, except for the penetrations in the firewall(bulkhead) for the clutch and accelerator cable pretty much everything else is mirrored. I'm quietly confident that sambo is onto this.

[djape1977]

an idea for solving the problem of that extra long clutch cable:
have you thought of converting to hydraulic clutch? you could source parts from lada niva which can be found down under

[Auspider]

The clutch cable shouldn't really be an issue, the RHD 124 coupe came out with a long clutch cable that ran in front of the timing belt cover then down past the oil filter to the clutch fork.

[Fi8spider]

..agree Auspider, I've tried routing the cable a couple different ways and found the std RHD coupe set up as the best by far.


Lubricating the cable also makes so much of a difference it's hard to believe.
I use a mixture of spray grease and penetrine, hang the cable (by the outer) in a bench vice and start drowning the inner cable with each of the product, slide the cable in out and spray a bit at a time of each until the grease comes through the other end. Store it with the ends pointing up until you're ready to use it.

[Sambo42]

Sambo, it looks to me as though you have the power booster /master cylinder assembly sitting about an inch too low and a couple of inches too far towards the centre of the car. If you look at the earlier photos I posted and that by PininF, you'll see where the 4 mounting bolt holes for that assembly are positioned. The inner 2 holes are almost directly beneath the scuttle drain hole.
In regard to the accelerator pedal, scrap the idea of mechanical linkages and go with a cable as Fi8spider suggested. You'll need to fabricate up and weld to the inner firewall /wheel well a small bracket with a couple of threaded studs to mount a pedal assembly from a coupe. It's a bit fiddly to get it set up at he right angle, but it shouldn't be a problem for somebody with your welding ability.
Whilst I was working in the footwell of my Spider, I also made up a mounting bracket to fit a left foot rest against the tunnel. Very comfortable for cruising as well as 'spirited' driving .

Curly this is perfect - I had come to the conclusion that the booster was too low so will have another go at teasing everything into place. Have found the accelerator mounting bracket in my box of goodies to so will test fit and mount and take some photos to show everything in place...

[Sambo42]

OK - opinion time please gents. I've readjusted the position of the column support about 1 inch higher on the firewall and mounted the accelerator pedal temporarily with some grub screws. I've even put in a temporary seat and sat in the car (slightly scary since it's up on the rotisserie but didn't fall off) and the position seems to be OK. But do you all think it looks OK? It's hard to get a sense of the perspective from some of the photos - I don't think I can mount the accelerator pedal much higher before the top fouls the underside of the dash.... but it seems significantly lower than brake and clutch pedals...

[Sambo42]

I fished this one out from another Fiat forum

Not a great photo but at least you get the drift of what I'm on about and can roughly see the relationship to it's positioning and the pedal box.

Fi8spider does your accelerator mounting bracket look higher than mine relative to the steering column bracket?