Overcenter spring rubbing

You could pull the spring out and see if thete is a lot of play.

Intresting spring removal methoud i recently found out about...

Take washers or other relatively thick pieces that you can get in there and with spring stretched during pedal application put the shims between the spring coils. Release the pedal and the spring will be loose.

Dont know what thickness or how many would be needed to spread the spring enough to remove it.

Stumbled on this photo