DIY - Easy clutch grab adjustment (~10 mins)
 

Purpose:
For members looking to bring their clutch grabbing point closer (or farther) from the floor due to personal preference.

Tools Necessary:
- 12mm open-end wrench
- 14mm open-end wrench

If you go under your steering column you will see the clutch master cylinder coming thru the firewall, just above the accel. pedal (I couldn't find it at first because cars I had before have it right behind the clutch... anyway) double-check you're looking at the right one by pressing the clutch with your left hand & watch the bracket/ cylinder move in & out.

You will see that the master cylinder bolt (w/e) threads into that bracket, & is held in place by a 12mm hex nut; pull out a 12mm open-ended, loosen the nut (too difficult to explain direction based on your orientational awareness; just be sure to note the thread pattern to know how you should turn to loosen it); slightly press clutch pedal with hand to remove tension from bolt, then with right hand screw the threads into the bracket; this will effectively bring your pedal closer to the ground & your grab point as well;

I've messed with different points all week & let me save you R&D; the most comfortable point for intuitive starts/ rolls off the clutch, & heel-toe downshifting; screw in until the clutch pedal sits ever so slightly lower than your brake pedal.

Test setup by getting in drivers seat, turn your car on, & test grab point by putting into first & letting out very slowly with no gas input; take note of when your car ever so slightly moves forward; next run forward a few feet, STOP completely, then immediately shift into reverse; if you get no unusual hesitation or grinding then move back & repeat this (forward, stop reverse) until you feel comfortable with your grab point & make sure you aren't grinding gears.

Tighten the bolt & one final thing, look at the front of your clutch pedal, the first sensor up is for your cruise control & I believe relates to your gear indicator display (if you have it enabled); basically the gear displays only with clutch out, but now that you put your pedal closer to the floor it does not engage the switch on the sensor.
In the same fashion that you loosened the clutch master cylinder nut, use a 14mm to loosen the nut attached to the sensor; it doesn't actually thread into the bracket, so you don't have to turn the sensor in; with the nut loose just slightly push it in to get the sensor switch in contact with the clutch pedal (fully depress the switch onto the pedal); just make sure it isn't pushing force down on your pedal, or this will probably put wear on your clutch ( my suggestion is to pull up on your pedal while you push the sensor into place; then tighten nut.

Now you are all set!; your clutch point is optimally adjusted for all sorts of driving, & your cruise control/ gear indicator still functions =D

*Video of the process; uploaded from forum member @JonnyRocket!
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScZFQ0j5beY"]BRZ/FR-S Clutch Pedal Adjustment DIY - YouTube[/ame]

Nice! Added this to the DIY Directory:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7365

+Bump for good info!

Awesome. Thanks a ton!

Any chance of a picture?

I found two nuts (they are on both sides of the black bracket against which the clutch pedal rests and the appear to be the same size). They are fixed on a treaded tube through which a small white nylon actuater protrudes.

I really want to do this mod, but I am reluctant to screw up anything.

When I loosened the 12mm nut from the clutch cylinder actuator, it did nothing to the travel -- the small bracket that connected the cylinder acutating rod and the rod that goes across and back over to the actual clutch pedal does not move, so no adjustment was given. I must be doing something wrong so I've given up for today. its over 100F outside anyways, lol.

its a really tight space and i was upside down for most of it. its totally worth it though.

the 12mm nut is behind the bracket. you won't be able to see it so you need to feel for it with your wrench. just get it loose and you can undo it with your finger. to actually adjust the pedal height, you need to press the clutch in just the right amount and turn the rod with your fingers. it took me some tries to start getting the rod turning, but once you figure it out, its not that bad.

http://i.imgur.com/evsDf.jpg

Yea, I couldnt get the damn rod to turn- lol I suck. I'll be more willing to give it another shot once the temps drop below 100F tonight.

had to do this to my ms6 when i first bought it. excellent great to know its an option~! thank you!:party0030:

Thanks for the 'thanks' & input everyone; sorry for my late response; thanks for the good picture ducks!

Yes, once you loosen the nut, you have to use some pressure on the clutch pedal in order release tension on the bracket & clutch master bolt. then you can screw in the bolt to bring the pedal down; let me know how yours turns out! =D

I believe you are looking at the cruise control switch; that's the final adjustment you make after you adjust pedal height, just to make sure the white switch (actuator) comes in contact with the pedal as it rests.

What you should be looking at for pedal adjustment is the bracket & clutch master protruding through the firewall, seen above the gas pedal; it's way up there; press the clutch with one hand to see which one moves; lmk how yours works out! =D

Any vids? Lol I know it'd probably be difficult to record down there but if it's possible that'd be great :) great post btw.

Big Thanks for the DIY instructions Koji! I just finish doing mine and it made the driving experience even better.

^ Awesome! I'm glad it worked out well for you =D

I definitely feel that a big part of your connection with the car & driving is how much control & awareness you have over the transmission and gear selection; next big mod for a boost in driving feel would be a solidly weighted, countersunk shift knob; working on prototyping one through a reputable team right now actually; look forward to the product reveal & possible group buy thread haha

Finally got around to adjusting mine. Clutch was cake, the brake pedal was tough. Now all flush with the accelerator. Side foot heel/toe even with my little size 9's. My back is wrecked, but it's worth it. Thanks.

Got it. It really was a piece of cake. Now I want to eat some cake lol thnx koji

So when adjusting the clutch pedal, do you just need to make sure that the pedal sits and pushes that pin?

Thanks everyone for posting back with positive results =D

Do you mean the cruise control switch? well if you adjust the clutch down far enough it may not come up far enough to rest on the switch & allow proper use of cruise control or gear indicator;
So when you're done adjusting the clutch pedal the way you want, you have to make sure the white switch on the cruise sensor presses against the pedal;
though also note that you don't want the sensor pushed up far enough to force pressure on the pedal or you will wear your clutch; Use one hand to pull the clutch pedal up while you push in the sensor with the other =D

Another member on here said even after his own adjustment; the pedal still came up to the switch on the sensor; that just means the level you are most comfortable with might not be far down enough to affect it; just double check & let me know how it turns out!

thanks for the info! So I just need to make sure the the pedal rests on the switch, but not far enough where it is pushing back on the pedal, correct?

^ definitely correct =D

!

Adjustment done. Turning the rod nearly defeated me, but once I found a good position and put on some grippy gloves things improved.

I put it at the same height as the break. I need to drive it more to decide if it needs further adjustment. I was starting to get used to the height, so it feels odd at the moment :)

A few tips
 

A few tips in addition to the great advice and post above.

1. You may have to get the 12mm wrench at the nut from a weird direction/rotational position to get the open end to mesh on the nut and have room to loosen and later to tighten. When you get up there while upside down with the door sill piercing into your back it should be clear.

2. Small adjustments make a big difference.

3. The rod is tough to turn and someone mentioned putting a pair of gloves on, another suggestion is to wiggle the clutch pedal up and down and inch or so and keep wiggling it while you turn the threaded rod. Again you don't have to turn the rod much. And it turns real easy while wiggling the clutch pedal. Watch the clutch pedal position while you turn the rod and you will see it moves quick.

I'm glad my guide helped! Lmao the techs couldn't figure out how to adjust clutch pedal height; they've probably never done a clutch disc & hydraulic system swap before; that's comforting =P

Is it just me or am I the only one that is worried that adjusting the height of the clutch pedal could possibly leave the clutch slightly engaged when your foot is completely off the pedal? I feel like you could mess with this slightly but not to the extent that some people are doing it, it seems like a likely possibility.

No Worries
 

As I understand this you are adjusting the pedal position, not the clutch itself. The free play at the top that is required hasn't changed. If you go too far you could get to a point where the clutch won't fully release which would give you grinding going into reverse or first. You don't want that. And with that and a .2 inch or so freeplay when first pushing the clutch pedal in and all should be fine. As I understand it. We are talking small adjustment goes a long way here.

Thank you syelenik, that is the right answer; to supplement that, DYOLF26; the last bolded part of my guide that talks about properly adjusting the cruise sensor that sits in front of the clutch pedal is where you need to watch; in that when you adjust the switch to contact the pedal, make sure to pull up on the pedal so that the sensor isn't applying pressure while at rest; this will ensure you aren't partially engaging or 'riding' the clutch =D

To emphasize part of syelenik's post; another part of my guide near the end states the proper way to test & make sure your gears engage correctly with the adjustment made; so that you do not get any grinds or hesitation

This is so awesome; stuff I thought I'd be paying the dealer I can do with pictures. :) Thx all you mechanically inclined owners! :clap:

Looking at the repair manual, the spec for clutch pedal travel is 110 to 115mm.

Thanks Everyone
 

A big thank you to Koji_Online, syelenik, ducks and normancw.
Hate a clutch that engages high.
Will have to take my spanners when I pick up my BRZ

I'll be looking into whether this affects the clutch's disengaging/engaging .. I'm still fairly concerned :/

Am I missing something? What gear indicator display?

You can set the display to show what gear you're in when the clutch pedal is in the released position. Directions are in the manual.

What is there to be concerned about?

Killing the actual clutch :[

Anyways, talked with a friend of mine who works in toyota services - he's also a car nut and only got good results.
This adjustment doesn't affect the actual engaging and disengaging of clutch.

Excited to do this on my car, I never was a fan of how high the clutch is!
:thanks:

by changing the length of the rod, the travel of the clutch pedal is being reduced, thus going out of specification. Wouldnt there be the posibility of the clutch not fully disengaging when the clutch pedal is depress?
Or as the clutch disc wears out, the travel needed to disengage the clutch might be larger making the issue even worse?
Just thinking that there is a specification for clutch pedal travel for a reason...

Thanks for the idea. With a "little help from a friend" I was able to adjust the clutch to a much lower point. This has to help the life of the clutch because before I felt I was dragging on it too much out of 1st and 2nd.

As for height wise I had the clutch almost engaging fully to the floor, but I backed it off a half turn. I now have a small amount of space there. Another way to describe it is that the clutch pedal is parralel to the brake now if not slightly lower. Fantastic difference in control! Thanks again.

I did this last night. Much better. Thanks!

Just moved the clutch back, loving it! :D

YES! Thanks for this. Stock clutch lets out so high it feels like the clutch is almost completely burnt out! Personally for me, this way I can use less clutch and it'll last longer and shift smoother and more comfortably :)

Fantastic guide! Thanks for posting it and thanks for the pictures. I will adjust mine this weekend. It is definitely needed. Now I need to go find that gear indicator setting... ;)