911vet

OK, so I'm hobbit-like in stature. 5'3" tall. I have longer than average legs, but I still felt like I was sitting too far forward.

What good is a cabriolet if you've got a roof over your head cause the windshield and visors are above you?

Solution: Bring the pedals closer to you.

I cut pedal blocks from wood 2x4s and had a friend with a scroll saw cut the curves to perfectly match the existing pedals. Painted the wood black. Then I covered them with Ultimate Pedals and bolted it all in place. The effect is a 1" gain in reach.

What do you think?

old man neri

Interesting.

If you still have full unrestricted movement of the pedals and you feel more comfortable driving like this....rock it!

-matt

911vet

The weather stinks today so I haven't been for a test drive. I did a drive with an earlier version of pedal extensions. I think it will work.

Anyone else ever try such a modification?

Dan Cobb

It's certainly better than attaching them to your shoes!
+++

nicklouse10

nice job, they look great! I made a pedal extension for my throttle pedal because I was having trouble applying heal n' toe. I find it easier now the throttle pedal is a little higher, bringing it more inline with the other pedals. Yours look like they are pretty even anyway.

I did exactly as you have done. 2X4 painted black with a metal fascia, although your fascias look much neater. You have just given me the inspiration to redo mine and make them nicer this time. thanks!

Nick
1980SC

gerrygug

Nice work, they look great.

My wife is 5'3" and also has trouble reaching the pedals. For those of us who are mechanically challenged are there any commercially made extensions on the market?

911vet

I searched and couldn't find any on the market. I am also 5'3". While I like to sit close enough to the steering wheel to have a good bend in the arm, I was too close in the 911. (my car came with the steering wheel extension on it, which exaggerates the effect).

I've never had this issue in any other vehicle. There's something about the proportions of the 911 that's different.

Another thing you might consider for your wife is the seat elevation kit. That helped me tremendously. I want to stay low in the car, but it was so low I couldn't see the road as well as I needed to. Made me nervous in the hills.

I made my own elevation kit from 1" stock aluminum. That raised me more than I needed. I'd recommend the 3/4" kit you can buy. Easy to install.

911vet

Hee hee! I guess they don't make Pilotis with risers in them do they?

911vet

old man neri: I finally did the test drive. They work great. I feel a lot better sitting back that extra 1" or whatever it translates to. The pedals are solid.

nicklouse10: Doesn't look like you need to redo anything. Looks great as it is. I got in on the group buy and picked up a set of Ultimate Pedals for $80. I couldn't pass it up. I'd recommend them to anyone considering metal pedals. Cheaper than Rennlines and they seem just as high quality. They accept returns for refund if you don't like them.

87Porsche

Hi Sharon,

Would you mind sharing any information that you have on making pedal blocks? Or if you know someone who makes them to sell?

Thanks,

Terri

Peter Zimmermann

I had to smile when I read your post! It brought back the memory of one particularly tiny customer of mine, and the difficulty we had in adapting her much-loved early 911 to her! We were successful doing exactly what you did, and she was delighted with the result. She could operate the pedals properly, still had the desired arm bend for effortless, well-controlled steering, and her sun visors were usable. I think she even got rid of her lumbar pillow!

I think that when Porsche designed the 911's ergonomics they decided to provide a car for larger people. I'm 6' 3", 215, and the 911 is truly the only sports car that I've ever been in (other than '05> Boxsters) that feels like it was made for me - and only me!

911vet

I wish I had taken pictures during the project, but I didn't. The process was pretty straight-forward. I bought metal pedal covers from Ultimate Pedals - which I highly recommend. That made this MUCH easier to do.

I simply traced the outline of the metal pedal on a pine 2x4.

Then, I turned the metal pedal on edge and traced the curve. I wanted about 1" of thickness, so I moved the pedal (still on edge) 1" and traced the curve again.

I had a buddy with a scroll saw which made this easy. It would be more of a challenge without that, but can be done. There's probably too much wood to simply try to sand off - but you could conceivably do it with some good rasps. Or, you might try a dremel tool.

With the scroll saw, we simply followed the traced contours. Then I used a rasp and a little sandpaper to fine tune the fit.

The metal pedals are an exact replica of the originals, so you can hold them to the wood and make sure that the inside curve matches your original pedal and the outside curve matches your metal pedal.

Next, place the metal pedal on the wood block and drill the two holes you'll use to attach the assembly. Then, I held the block in place on the original pedal and used a small drill bit to mark the location of the holes. You can tape it on if that helps. Or use a punch (but the OE metal is very hard - not easy to mark with a punch).

This drilling process is really no different than if you were just installing the metal pedals.

I bought longer bolts of the same diameter as the ones that came with the pedals (#10). I bought lock nuts to secure it.

I painted the wood black and I also painted the heads of the bolts so they would match the black rubber inserts.

The gas pedal is easy. You could do it without any special tools. And, if you want to bring it up a little to more of a "heel-toe" level, you can make it thicker.

The Ultimate Pedals say to use a screw without a nut on the plastic gas pedal. But I felt uncomfortable with that since I was adding the wood. So I used nuts on the back just as I did the others.

I would be glad to take some mock-pictures showing how I marked the wood if needed. Let me know.

They ended up looking great. You really don't notice the blocks when you look in the car. And it helps put me in a more reasonable driving position.

But beware: if you make the blocks too thick you may no longer be able to reach the stick shift without stretching. My car has the steering wheel extension, so it's still in the right position for me even though I'm slid back a little.

I would recommend you try no more than 1" at first. Otherwise, things might get out of proper reach.

911vet

Here ya go. This is basically how you will trace the outline on a block of wood.

rnln

Now you are too far away from the shift ****

ron mcatee

911vet, Your pedal extensions look very good. If you ever have a problem with the wood deteriorating, I suggest you find a cutting board made of a plastic/teflon material the same thickness. That material won't crack, break, or deteriorate as wood sometimes does.