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Thanks, PM sent!

On the washer like dust seal in post 1407, a similar or maybe the same item was used on some postwar models. Those are a hard compressed fiber piece about 1/16 thick which on cars I have seen is not glued but rather free floats between the metal floor and rubber mat or carpet. The weight of the floor covering holds it close to the floor but allows slight movement to follow any changes in the rod angle.

Howard, now that you mention it, I've seen those too. I think the 1954 Patrician parts car that I've been disassembling has one and it's definitely not rubber. I was wondering when I first saw the photo how it stayed down and how it moved with the pedal's angle change so it makes sense that it was not rubber but rather something harder. That said, it seems a rather poor seal to an area that might experience fumes and gets road grime, being so low on the front of the body!

Many of the postwar cars also had a rubber accelerator boot or bellows that worked in conjunction with the fiber piece to better provide a dust and fume seal. You are correct that the hard fiber is not the most effective seal ever made but then neither were the rubber brake pedal and clutch arm seals. Most of those seemed to deteriorate or break at the tiny bellows portion with the flat sealing part that did the work falling off or pushed down away from the floor hole. Those seals let in larger amounts of air and fumes whenever a pedal was depressed than the tiny bit of slop in the fiber surrounding the accelerator rod..

I was not aware of this seal. It makes sense and I will make one for mine. I will skip the slit as you can simple remove the pedal and drop it over the rod's shaft ball down to the floor and drop the carpet back down. Nice to keep a bit more of the fumes from creeping in!
Thanks!
Bob J.

Perhaps the slit is also there to help prevent binding?



Otherwise, I would make sure to make the center hole with enough slop to prevent that.

As I remember the later seals the slit is there not so much for binding but so you can slide it over the rod. IIRC the hole is just a slight bit larger than the rod and ball is too large for the hole

Quote:

It is about 1/32" thick and 1-13/16" outside diameter, fairly rigid and just floats on the push rod. not glued to the toe board.

Perfect, thanks!

Does the rug hold it down?