Throttle Problem

Q: Throttle Problem

I recently purchased a 1968 Firebird 400. The car seemed to be a dog compared to the other 1968 Firebirds and GTOs I have owned in the past. After doing all the usual tune up tricks I noticed that my accelerator pedal only throws the throttle open half way before hitting the carpet!

I looked for an adjustment to compensate for the restricted pedal movement or a way to remove the carpet but neither seemed to have an obvious answer. Has anyone else experienced this?

A: If the carb has ever had really strong spring installed, it very well could have bent the inside linkage. My GTO had this happen. I bent it back and welded on a brace so it wouldn’t happen again. Also, didn’t the Firebirds 400’s have some sort of throttle stop to keep from getting full throttle in order to “lower” the horsepower. That might be when the linkage got bent originally. Someone tried to stomp the pedal to the floor, it hit up against the throttle stop and bent the inside linkage. Just a theory.

A: After a closer look I discovered that the reason my accelerator pedal was only throwing the carb half open was that the mounting bracket for the pedal was cracked in two.

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