seanof30306

iTrader: (4)

I'm 6'5" and have an 89 Formula. I love the car, but I need at least 2" more headroom and the seat to go at least 2" further back. Has anyone come up with a solution for this?

dr1

your damn near sitting on the floor as is
only thing i can suggest is a tiny steering wheel, it really gives you knees some space

DJCobol

I talked to a body shop about this same issue. When they replace my floorpans, they are going to see if they can move the studs that bolt the seat down back a few inches, and put them right on the pan, instead of those crossbraces.

johnnyq5021

if you always drive with you rt-tops out it should solve your head clearance problems jk...i would start looking in the boneyards for seats that sit really close to the floor pan for instance my old crx seats were a lot closer to the floor thatn my ta seats.

mknab

Moving the seats back a couple inches should help. I myself am 6'3", but when I put the seat in my camaro back all the way its a perfect fit. Also I tilt my wheel up when I get in then tilt it back down when im in the seat, it takes some getting used to and seems like a hassle at first, but then it just becomes a habbit. The only thing that bothers me is how high I sit. When I pull up to a red light I either have to lean forward to see the light, because of the roof, or lean my head back and look through the t-tops lol, but with the new seats Im getting im going to tie the springs down in the coushin to lower it. You can try that, it should give you about 2 more inches of clearence!

Xophertony

i do that and i am 5'9"

jimp2001

4th gen seats are an inch or 2 lower then 3rd gen seats and they bolt right in.

dr1

the thing i hate about the seat being all the way back, is my arms dont seem to make up for it, they get tired reaching way out there for the wheel.. heh

CrazyHawaiian

I'm 6'5" too and I know how you feel. But to be honest headroom didnt really become a problem for me until I started wearing a helmet at track events. So I took out the headliner and everything, no problem for a track car. Maybe not so cool for a daily driver. But other options could be to change the seat brackets. I know when I finally install racing seats in this track car I'm gonna have someone that can weld good make some custom brackets but unlike a street car I want mine non adjustable.

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

rig the braces farther back on the bottom of the seat, so your maximum length away from the wheel is longer...

BonzoHansen

When I put power seats in my 82, I got more headroom. They adjust up & down. But I am only 6'1" and it had T-Tops.

Diggler86

what are you a t-rex?

helps for me just to tilt the seat back more... i think more headroom with the t-tops also..

jandl22

I am also over 6' and I put in 4th gen leather seats in my car and what a difference they made.

Charged350

iTrader: (1)

get racing bucket.....cut off the factory studs....lay teh seat where you want it.....and weld the tracks to teh floor....dats as low as it gets...im 6 foot 5 also....all da way back..plenty of leg nad head room.....

Gr89RS

iTrader: (5)

I'm sorry, but

jandl22

How did you get more head room when the power seat tracks are 2 inches taller than the original seat tracks???

EvilCartman

iTrader: (1)

I'm 6' 3" and have the seat all the way back and tilted a bit. Headroom isn't a problem till wearing a helmet at the track. I just scoot down in the seat a bit but my head still hits the t-top.

elky74

This all sounds familiar.

wellington

if you want more head and leg room your going to need to buy a mercedes.

but seriuosly, [as if i wasnt serious before] try removing the worthless headliner and maybe look into ven lower sports car seats. 300zx seats are asome,and those cars are LOW.

maybe a corvette seat might work,or just remove the seat padding and put in thinner but denser foam.the seat may be a little hard,but its better then hitting your head on the roof .

and i dont know where they put the foot room in these cars,i had to remove the plastic crap under the driver dash just to work the pedals[im a size 13].


or remove the front seat get some pedal extensions and drive it from the back seats!!!

soulbounder

6'3" here and I agree that leg room is a problem in my 91 Bird. I sit with the seat all the way back and without the seat reclined at all. (No offense to all the recliners out there, but I don't like to lay down while I drive .) Still, my head is about an inch or so from the roof. T-top cars have a little more headroom than hardtops even with the tops on. 6'5" I could definitely see as being a problem on both ends. See if there are any custom car shops in the area that can make you some brackets to move the seat back and down a bit. You might even have them fix it in one spot with no sliders that way only you can drive the car.

HalfInchWrench

Pull a High Tower in Police Acadamy.

seanof30306

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for the input, guys.

I"ve heard 4th gen seats sit lower, but, I've also pmd members who've put them in their cars and have gotten mixed responses: some say lower, some say no change. Before I put the money into the seats, I want to hear from a few people who have made the change themselves and who have noticed a difference. If not 4th gen seats, the from people who have put some other seats in and have personal experience.

I've had several fabricators look, and new brackets CAN be made, but it's tough. Our seat brackets don't sit flat on the floor, the right sides of the brackets actually mount up on the transmission tunnel. It's more of a challenge than what one might think.

For years, I had a 70 Chevelle. The seat brackets raise the seats about 3 inches off the floor, When i replaced the seats, I used brackets from a 2nd gen Camaro, which sat almost flat on the floor. It was amazing. The first car I've ever "fit" in. I know I'm not going to be able to get that much room out of my Formula, but I'd enjoy the car so much more if I didn't feel like Herman Munster when i drove in it.

Someone else was talking about the steering wheel needing to telescope. I agree, that would help. I've been wondering if you couldn't simply find or make some kind of spacer to move the wheel an inch or two further back. I actually like my wheel, just need it a little closer to me, ESPECIALLY if I come up with a solution that nets me more head and leg room. I wonder if a 2nd gen Trans-Am wheel would fit? It's spaced further back.

HalfInchWrench

I think the Burlenettas (butchered spelling) had a telescopic steering column.


Those brackets that the seats bolt to could be moved back a few inches with not too much fuss. I'd leave the existing ones there and just cut off the bolts. Grab a set from the scrap yard and weld them in a few inches back. I've been looking at mine for days. Been welding my floor back together.

smokefan

theres a guy on this board that is like 7'. there was a post that was titled something like tallest 3rd gen owner, something like that. you should see what he did for his seats

RestoRoc89

I can't imagine being any taller and driving a thirdgen. I'm only 6' and I fit perfectly with my seat moved all the way back and reclined a fair amount too (I'm a pretty slouchy driver I guess). However, I would imagine it wouldn't be difficult to do like HalfInchWrench suggested and just grab a new set of cross-braces with the seat studs in them and weld them onto the floor pans back an inch or two to get more leg room. You also may be able to to cut some height out of the cross braces, as I think they're nearly two inches high in the center (though doing so might necessitate reinforcing them some). The seat brackets in thirdgens are also fairly tall. I could see it being fairly simple to cut some height out where the mounting tabs attach and then weld the tabs back on. Those modifications will probably end up cheaper than buying new seats. Also, for a seat to sit lower, it will probably have less padding--which may not be desirable.

One thing I saw mentioned earlier was mounting the seat studs down on the floor pans directly. I would not even consider doing that. The braces that the studs are fastened to now have some structural integrity. Sheet metal floor pans which more than likely have some rust in them will not hold you inplace in an accident!

smokefan

his screen name is MNfirebird and he's 7'4

88txiroc

One thing that must be considered is the structural integrity on the welds/bolts. A friend of mine wanted to weld in new bracket/bolts to move his seat back. He just happened to talk to his insurance agent about it. They told him that they would not insure the car if it was done. Something about being a liability in a frontal crash.

If you do complete this and you are involved in a accident, there COULD be a chance that your insurance would not cover it at all.

Just something for ya'll to think about before attempting this modification.

Dialed_In

iTrader: (3)

:i agree:

di11avou

iTrader: (1)

Yeah. I'm only 6' so I didn't really pay attention to how much headroom i gained, but I noticed it was a lot easier to get in and out of my car when I swapped to some 4th gen seats. And they are sooo much more comfortable.

elky74

I'm 6'2" and the problem I have is getting my right leg in and out under the wheel. I bought a 13" Grant, but it's still too big. My dad has a steering wheel on his truck that you could drive with handcuffs, it's that small. Once I'm in the car, I have enough head and leg room, though. I think its just something we 3rd genners have to live with for our cool cars.

seanof30306

iTrader: (4)

ummm .... dude, i found the thread and read his post; even looked at his page, but i didn't see anything about what he did to his seats. what did he do?

JPrevost

I'm 6'4" and here's what I started doing;
Bring steering wheel closer to me and jack up the front of the seat to give my legs some support (so my *** doesn't fall asleep). Just going those 2 things will put you in a near perfect "driving" position with about 20 degree layback.
Try that first before relocating the seat bracket studs.
The real issue for me is the steering wheel. When I push the seat far back I feel like I have to reach with my arms extended to grab the steering wheel. It's really annoying and uncomfortable hence the invent of telescoping steering wheels that are in some new cars.

seanof30306

iTrader: (4)

Jon,

How are you bringing the wheel closer to you, and how are you jacking the front of the seat up?

JPrevost

Both of my options require some machine work. Wheel spacer built out of some cylindrical aluminum stock machined. Same goes for the front seat spacers except they are being made from hex stock that is drilled and tapped on one end to go over the studs and then turned and die cut for threads on the top. To test everything out I just sat in the car with the rear seat nuts loose and the front unbolted. I grabbed some misc wood pieces and started jacking up the front until I was happy with the leg support. Then I picked up my steering wheel that was on the passenger seat and put it where I wanted it. Felt good about 2-4" closer so I'm starting with a 2" spacer.
When I'm done there will be pictures.

seanof30306

iTrader: (4)

That's really cool. Earlier, in this thread, I wondered if a steering wheel spacer would work.

On jacking up the seat, are you putting the spacers between the brackets and the floorboard?

I'm looking forward to seeing those pics!

Lucid

iTrader: (4)

I am 6'2" and i noticed that when i replaced the power seat sliders with manual sliders i could go back further and that i got an inch or two lower. I put the power seat parts into my dads IROC and even on the lowest setting i'm right at the headliner.

Lucid

85firebird

On my 2nd gen, the seat barely has any thigh support. So I set out to raise the front of the seat. I did this by putting a half inch stack of washers between the bracket and the floorpan. The seats felt much better, but my rusty old brackets were about to snap because the front tabs no longer sat flush on the floorpan.

I would recommend you put a few washers between the SEAT and the BRACKET. Remove the seat, flip it upside down, remove the front bolts completely, and loosen the the rear bolts enough to pull the front of the bracket a 1/2" away from the seat. Line up a 1/2" stack of washers between the bracket and the seat, feed the front bolts through, and tighten all 4 bolts. Install seat and test.

The only thing that concerns me with this setup is that we've introduced an angle between the seat and the bracket, and therefore the boltheads won't tighten up square against the brackets. There might be a risk of the bolts coming loose or the the bolts wiggling within the threaded bore in the seat. So maybe one flexible (nylon, rubber, cork, brass) washer can be added to all 4 bolts.

roadthrills

I'm 6'7" and don't have any problems but, my MSE has Recaro seats and they feel closer to the floor.

cooltc2004

iTrader: (4)

6'3" here, and my seats tilted way back, and I actually sit a tad bit onto the back of the seat. But I think my legs are longer, rather then my upper half being longer.

Jekyll & Hyde

+1 I'm not 6', but I am 5'10" and 4th gen seat made a huge difference.

seanof30306

iTrader: (4)

Jon,

I was looking at a set of 4th gen manual seat tracks on ebay and noticed that they have an adjustment built in for that "tilt.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Also, for the guys who've gone to 4th gen seats; did you use the 4th gen seat tracks, or did you bolt the 4th gen seats to your 3rd gen tracks? I'm wondering if the "sitting lower" effect comes from the seats themselves, or the 4th gen tracks?

JamesC

iTrader: (5)

Surgery ?

JamesC (a shorty--and I think I'm old enough that I'm beginning to shrink)

JPrevost

Bought! Easily adjustable was NOT part of my design... thanks for the find. I'll tell you guys how it works out.

seanof30306

iTrader: (4)

YOU BOUGHT IT??!!!???!!!! Jesus Christ! I was going to buy it!!!!!

You sniped me!!!!!!

EvilCartman

iTrader: (1)

92Transam

If you put fiero seat tracks on your stock seats they will be about 3 inches lower and go back further, im 6' 5" and have been running fiero seats and tracks for about 10 months

JPrevost

Sorry . I guess posting the link to an ebay item that hasn't ended yet wasn't the brightest idea . If I don't like it's yours for the same price, fair enough?

JPrevost

Do they bolt right up to the stock studs?

92Transam

The tracks bolt perfectly to the f body seats. I only had to grind the passanger side seat track a lil because of the way the floor goes up where the cat is but other than that its the same as our bolt pattern for the floor.

seanof30306

iTrader: (4)

I'm just kidding. Those guys list them all the time.

I have a set of fiero tracks coming. While I plan on changing to 4th gen seats, I'm first going to mount the stock seats on fiero tracks and take before and after measurements to see the actual difference. You do the same with the brackets you stole out from under me and we'll post the results; hopefully providing a definite solution for our fellow "height-challenged" 3rd gen owners.