Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Upon driving my 37 I found that there is some side to side play in the clutch pedal iron. Depressing the pedal resulted in the outboard side of the iron rubbing against the opening in the toe board and causing an annoying squeak.
I could avoid the squeak if I remembered to keep my foot to the left side of the pedal and push the pedal to the right as well as down, but this was easily forgotten and slightly awkward.
I know you could (should maybe?) remove the iron and machine it to insert a bushing to rid this, but it is not that worn, just annoying, so I found a simple solution.
I took a piece of 3/4" thick nylon block and cut an "L" section from it, about 2" on the long leg and 1" on the short leg. The wall thickness was a consistent 1/4" wide.
I then took this 3/4" wide x 1/4" thick "L" and after lifting the carpet, simply inserted it into the left side of the slotted hole in the toe board with the 1" leg going into the slotted hole and the 2" leg resting on the top surface of the toe board pointing towards the kick board panel. Laying the carpet down sandwiches the part under the carpet and retains it in position. Now the pedal iron rubs soundlessly against the nylon with the squeak gone. You could drill a hole in the 2" long leg and then use a sheet metal screw to hold it in if you found that your carpet did not hold it tight enough.
Here's to quiet touring!
Bob J.

Bob, it wasn't a worn clutch and brake pedal shaft? Ron Carpenter, Walnut Creek, CA reproduces these.

Thanks Su8.
Possibly a slightly worn clutch pedal shaft (iron), it does way more work than a brake shaft, but the slight wear was addressed with this nylon rub block. The toe board is also a bit distorted over the years. Works great now though and will likely do so for years to come.
Bob J.

If the 37 pedal and shaft arrangement is the same as later models wear could also be caused by lack of lubrication. Later cars thru at least 50 have one grease fitting on the end of the shaft at the brake side. That fitting is threaded into a long passage thru the shaft with small holes drilled into the passage to allow grease into the space between brake and clutch pedal bushings. Problem with that single fitting is the grease is oozing out around the bushings on both sides of the brake pedal long before it ever reaches the clutch bushings. I expect a lot of lube guys stopped the grease gun as soon as they saw it coming out and long before fresh grease ever reached the clutch pedal.