FordMuscle Staff

Solid linkages between pedal and carburetor throttle arms came first.

Electronic throttle control , or drive-by-wire on a 2005 F150.

The evolution of throttle linkage goes something like this; up until the late 60's you had a series of levers and rods connecting between the accelerator pedal and carburetor throttle arm. This gave way to a cable actuated mechanisms, still in use on many of today's vehicle's. The most modern rendition is drive-by-wire where there is no linkage what-so-ever. Pedal motion is transmitted by a sensor to the vehicles computer which then actuates the throttle blade to a corresponding position.

The subject of this how-to is the cable operated throttle. You might ask why we wouldn't consider the most modern technology, the drive-by-wire throttle system. We presume the answer is quite obvious to most of you. Such systems are only now beginning to find their way into new vehicles. The technology isn't quite ready yet for adaptation to early hot rods. Will it ever be? Sure, everything eventually is. We envision that in the not-so-distant future, as guys drop in newer generations of EEC systems into their vintage Ford Muscle cars that we may find ourselves doing a how-to on a remote throttle pedal that simply feeds the car's brain a position signal.

For now we're simply content with avoiding the automotive equivalent of extinction. We're moving beyond our mechanical rod and to a modern and more adaptable cable operated throttle in our early Mustang. A cable mechanism is almost a necessity when changing the original location of the throttle linkage - such as when you ditch the carb for EFI as we did on our Project '67. This is where the simplicity of a cable shines. You can route the cable virtually anywhere, opening up a world of options on where you want to place the throttle body or carburetor. Cables are much more reliable too. Think about it, unlike a lever style linkage with a cable nothing really moves in the engine compartment. The cable itself moves but it is housed in a sheath. This is also precisely why clutch actuation went from mechanical to cable in the early '70's.

So let's dive right in. We're using Lokar's cable and pedal assembly. Their Hi-Tech cables come in a variety of lengths which can then be cut to fit. They offer a number of pedal assemblies that can adapt to most any Ford vehicle. We're using their Mustang specific assembly in this article. Of course one can also pull a cable specific pedal from a factory vehicle and try to adapt it.

We start be unscrewing the stock accelerator pedal pad from the pedal arm.	We unbolt the Mustang's factory accelerator pedal arm from the firewall and pull it out via the engine compartment side of the firewall.
With the accelerator pedal and firewall grommet removed we reposition the fuse box slightly higher up under the dash.	The repositioned fuse box can be seen here. We used existing holes in our '67 Mustang's firewall. Shown also is the teardrop shaped billet aluminum Lokar pedal support.
The pedal support fits into the firewall hole where the accelerator pedal grommet was previously.	The pedal bracket needs to be lined up against the mount. Here is where it helps to have an extra hand. One person holds this steady under the dash, while the other secures the screws from the engine side of the firewall.
The round pedal support and screws go on the engine side of the firewall. You need to thread the screws through the teardrop shaped support and into the bracket shown in the previous step. While there is a way to do this solo, trust us just bribe a buddy to help.	With firewall sandwiched between the pedal supports we'll drill the cable guide hole. Ensure that the bracket is perfectly vertical before drilling, otherwise you'll end up with a slightly crooked pedal. Drill slowly and use the hole in the teardrop support as a guide.
With the hole drilled we can begin with cable installation. Pull the cable out of the housing and feed the threaded boss through the firewall.	From under the dash secure the cable boss to the pedal support with the supplied nut.
Route the cable housing to the throttle arm on your carburetor or throttle body. Avoid any sharp bends which will kink the cable.	Secure the cable housing adjuster to the throttle bracket. The bracket shown here came with our Mass-Flow EFI kit, however Lokar sells universal carb or EFI brackets. More