Matching dead pedal for R-design brake & throttle pedals: DIY

[satrya]

After adding metal brake & throttle pedals on my Momentum+, the black rubber dead pedal seem a bit out of place. For one, the 2 pedals on the right has metal + black horizontal lines, while the dead pedal is all black with vertical lines.

Note: the dead pedal is partially obstructed by the floor liner.

Browsing different dead pedals online, I found that one designed for a VW had about the right height and width, as well as the horizontal black line pattern. The black line pattern seem to have a similar filet radius (i.e. the size of the rounding on the edges) as that of the R-design gas and brake pedals:

 

[satrya]

Here is the VW dead pedal next to the Volvo metal gas & brake pedals:

Upon closer inspection, the VW dead pedal's metal finish is more mirror-like (i.e. finer polish), while the gas & brake pedals' metal finish is more brushed metal-like. Also, while the horizontal black pieces in the Volvo pedals have a flat top surface (akin to the chiclet-style keyboard), the VW dead pedal's top surface is rounded. In other words, the VW's look more like elongated pills sticking out of the metal panel. Also, the VW dead pedal's black piece material is not as grippy as the Volvo pedals. The corners of the VW dead pedal are not at right angles; the whole pedal is slightly slanted to the right (i.e. it is a rhombus instead of a rectangle).

Having said all that, this is the closest matching dead pedal I ran into after searching online.

 

[satrya]

The VW dead pedal is comprised of a thin stamped metal, and an elaborate looking plastic base that has protrusions that make the horizontal rounded bars. The backside of the pedal shows where the stamped metal mounts itself via 8 pairs of gopher-teeth-like protrusions:

In the picture above, the VW's pedal top side is oriented away from the camera, while the bottom side is oriented closest to the camera. The right side (of this back view) is the left side when the metal panel faces the driver; it has a gradual upwards lip alongside this edge, interrupted by a U-channel attachment and 1 mounting hole. This has got to go. Here's the pedal mounted upside-down, trimming this extra piece off:

After the first rough cut, the back side looks like this:

Later on, some more fine trimming and sanding will smooth the trimmed area some more.

 

[satrya]

There are 3 hook-like protrusions from the base material. These need to go. Ideally, a hot knife would do the trick. But a careful use of a sharp cutter would work as well. Removing the last one:

 

[satrya]

Returning the orientation of the pedal upgright, the upper left corner of the lip interferes with an OE trim panel that frames the SIM card module. A bit of trimming (as marked) takes care of that:

 

[satrya]

Finally, I decided to mount the dead pedal on the all weather floor liner instead on the OE dead pedal. That way, I don't need to cut the liner's tall lip that is useful in containing spills. Also, it means that the dead pedal will be removed every time I need to clean the liner. I affixed the dead pedal on the liner via some automotive-grade double sided tape (after cleaning the surfaces and heating both the surface and tape), and used one of the VW pedal's gopher-teeth-like protrusions to keep the pedal in place relative to the floor liner.