I'm 6' 8", and If I'm going to keep my 3rd gen for years, I'd like to look into doing something about the leg room. I feel the car would be more comfortable if the rear seat was moved backwards a few inches (maybe 6) so my legs were more in front of me instead of all jacked up and bent.

Has anybody ever fabricated a bracket to give the drivers seat more leg room?

 

Yes and no. My seat sits back more than stock but I also use a race seat attached directly to my roll cage instead of the floor and is not adjustable. I did it to move my body weight back in the car but also required fabricating a different throttle pedal so I wasn't stretching to go WOT.

As for moving an OEM seat back, I don't think there's an easy way to do it. You could pull the seat mounts off the 4 bolts that attach it to the floor and mount 4 new bolts back a little bit. Probably not a great idea since those reinforced bolts are holding you and the seat to the car.

The seat bolts to the mounting frame/slide. Perhaps an adapter that bolts to the slide and the seat bolts to the adapter in a rearward position.

 

I made some simple brackets years ago to move the seat back about 3", im 6'6". I made these for my 86 but oddly I do t need them in my 92 for some reason it has more leg room.

 

still have them? Want to sell?

 

Im still using them.

 

ah.

got any pics?

 

Adapters should be very simple to make, at least for the driver's side. The floor is more or less flat on the driver's side, so a flat piece of steel with a bolt through it on one end and a hole on the other should pretty much do the job. Make 4 identical adapters; one for each mounting point. The only "hard" part (if you don't have a welder) would be tacking the bolt or threaded rod to the adapter so that it doesn't spin when you tighten the nut.

 

Billy over at Knight Designs sells brackets to move the seat back.

Here is a post with info about them:

http://www.knightriderrevolution.com...brackets#p1456

You can contact him via Knightdesigns.com

 

boom. Happy birthday to me. Thanks for the link, I'll contact him now

 

bought and paid for. I'll post up a review once I get them

 

Great! You will not be disappointed. Billy's stuff is top of the line!

 

I got a set of Billy's brackets too...

Also, I grabbed a manual seat recline bottom from a 4th gen and it bolts right up to the driver's seat/3rd gen floor... there is a paddle in front that you pull and the whole seat leans back... this also takes up leg space and provides a more comfortable position... I'm 6 2. I almost don't need the brackets with just that seat bottom, but I still need to play with it cuz I have a stick shift and my left knee is still high up in the dash...

Rafael

 

My only though with using 4 individual brackets is that the set would be able to rotate or flip up in an accident, something a 1 piece bracket on each side wouldnt

 

Billy's are 1 piece for each side... so the front / back mounting points mount to 1 piece on each side...

 

my only concern about these (and I didn't think of it until 5 minutes after I ordered them) is that A normal sized person (like my wife, 5' 8") won't be able to drive my car at all anymore. I have my wife take the car sometimes when I have to drive extra long distances in a day and don't want to put those miles on my car

 

Does she drive with the seat all the way forward? There are two settings in the bars that you bought from Billy. Also looking into the option for the seat to lean back, that makes a big difference.

 

Without the brackets installed, if i have the seat all the way back via the tracks and all the way leaned back, I can't fully push the clutch in (very comfortable), but I have to lean the seat forward some... again, my problem (for now) is that my left knee is high up, so i think adding the brackets and just a little bit of lean will fix it for me... I was really amazed at how much leaning the seat back made a difference (again, not just the back, the whole bottom with the manual 4th gen tracks)...

I got them at the junk yard for like $10 from a 4th gen driver's seat and bolted it to my PMD / 91 Formula with no problems... The lever is to move back / forth on the track, the paddle leans the bottom (and whole seat) back...

 

Back in the day (1996), I made up some brackets for my 85 Z28 out of four pieces of scrap flat iron to move my seat back six inches. All I did was drill some holes in each one and bolted everything in using a little Loctite.

I was rear-ended by a guy in a S10 while I was stopped at a light on a highway. The seat bottom didn't move but I broke the seat back when I hit the car in front of me.

Oh and I'm 6'6" and about 200 lbs at the time of the accident.

 

here's an installation video

 

They gave you the room u needed?

 

Haven't installed them yet. I had a tilt back seat rail hopefully on the way, and I'm going to do both conversions at the same time

 

Post update when you can...

 

There was less cabin room in cars before 1990. I test drove an 89 and my head was in the roof. My '91 has more than enough room though, and I'm a very comfortable 6'1" driver.

 

In my last two 3rd gens I did as jHarrison 5 did and made four our of plate steel with 4 two holes in each. Put a hole in each end and use a bolt to secure. Never would come loose or break. It cost near to nothing to make. I am also 6ft 4. I have plenty of room and you can also move the seat forward for shorties.

 

got them in. I had to modify the brackets a little to get them to work with the tilting manual rails I bought and installed at the same time, but with regular manual rails they would be an easy install

yes, I know one of them is backwards, but it's because of the titling rail

I like the mod, though it takes a little getting used to. It's so strange to have my legs straight out when driving a car. I've literally never had this before, because I was over 6'6" when I was 15 years old.

 

I just wrote this to billy

 

Thanks for providing feedback! Not saying it will for sure happen, but I know these vendors love feedback.

 

It was a very heavy, thick piece of metal. I'm glad I bought it, but it's so thick it actually took away headroom, which is noticeable.

I'm already picturing how to make my own brackets (going to half to bend them by hand using a vise) so I get a little extra headroom back.

 

fiero seat rails will drop you down 1 1/2 inches in front and almost 3 inch in back.
and bolt right up to your floor studs and seats

 

I just did my own brackets. They were a pain, but I am glad I did. I am 6'5" 230lbs. I needed some extra space... but didn't bother for 10 years till now my seats are shot. I picked up a really nice set of Cipher seats. Tan leatherette reclinable. Cipher called and said the seat mounts got discontinued after I bought the seats. I still wanted the seats so I just made my own. I lowered the back about an 1" (a little more) and brought the front up about a 1/2" so the seats supports under my knee. It works well. The passenger seat was a little harder to make match because of the bump for the cat. Overall cost me a lot of time but less then $100 for the laser cut 5/16th steel and powder coating. Let me know if you want to see pics. I can take some. Actually I can send you the laser cut file.

 

Wouldnt mind seeing that laser cut file

 

I should get the parts next week and start putting it together. I have some odd electronics which probably wouldn't be useful to others, but the outlines and shifter location should all be good. I will make sure everything fits and throw some pics up. I will get you the file if all works. It should be a problem. I have a digital cutter and I proofed the cut on fiber board. Only issue might be different center councils being slightly different... I am not really sure about that. All you can do is print and cut it in paper or something like that first before you pay for metal to be cut.

 

Haha...Kidding.

Im 6'4" and Im more comfortable in my TA than in my Legacy. BUT...if I were any taller, I think it'd be an issue.

The solution you guys are using seems decent. In fact, I could probably use a little extra room myself. Might look into them.

J.

 

I used a grinder and elongated the holes in the 4th gen seat track. Gave me another inch or so. Might need a little more....

 

Sorry, space cadet moment. I was talking about the laser cut plates on the center coucil I just picked up. I have had the seats done and in for a little while now. I can move my new seats back till they touch the back seats... I can't even reach the pedals then. I keep the seat centered on the tracks and it works great for me. I have the laser cut file if anyone needs it. You will need a bender (a vice might due) and welding skills or help. The back legs get welded on.

PM me your email if your interested in the file and the how to's. I cut it out of 5/16th steel. The file has the holes in it for the Cipher seats, might need to be modded for whomever's seat your buying.

 

When I picked up my car, the original seats were long gone and in their place a previous owner had set a pair of Nissan 300ZX seats. I say "set" because they didn't line up with any of the seat mounts and had one bolt each securing them. I ended up removing the seat mounts entirely by drilling out the spot welds, then welded some C-channel in where I needed the bolt holes to go. This allowed me to mount the seats lower and further back - I'm 6'2" and the seat sits about halfway along its available travel.

 

you'd be surprised how much of a difference even 1" makes... if I remember right (I hope I'm not mixing this up with my 4th gen), you can unbolt the stock brackets from the bottom of the seats and move them back almost 1.75" further forward (moving the seats back that much) only having to extend one corner to accommodate just bolting it in.

 

Attached is a weak cell photo from when I was doing the center council, but the seats are there too. It is hard to see scale, but the seats are 1" lower and 1" back (center of the travel) from stock. if I push it back it stops about a 1/2" from the front of the back seat. I am 6' 5" and from back there I can't even reach my pedals.

It did work well, but it was really tough to design those brackets. Took me like a month of cutting cardboard on a digital cutter at work, taping and trying to hold the seat right to figure it out. Still wound up scraping the back legs and fabing them on the car. I wanted to design them drop in, but that wasn't happening. I probably could now that I have it done.

You could do this work with almost any seat as long as you change out to bar type slides. The stock ones have the legs built in and it really limits options. Other then cutting those legs off and adding new.

 

I got my brackets installed this morning, and wow, what a difference.
I went ahead and installed another seat track from a '90 Firebird, that has the tilt function. Here are some pictures, first is "before", the other two are "after". For reference, I am 6'5" 240#

 

Every person over 6'4" i see, I just have to say "COME SIT IN MY CAR!"

 

I have Fiero brackets in my car (I'm 6'5", 275).

They only drop the seat down 1", but the difference is HUGE!. I find myself craning up in the seat when I'm parking.

I'd still like the seat to go further back, though. I'm going to look into those brackets from knightriderrevolution.com. Yes, they's raise the seat a touch, but with the Fiero brackets, you could afford to lose back a touch of what you've gained from the brackets.

I'm also interested in the 4th gen brackets that lean the seat back.

 

I've thought about getting the fiero brackets, but I'm pretty hooked on the kind that tilt the seat bottom, and I don't think I can have it both ways.

 

What about the brackets moving you further back from the steering wheel and the shifter?

Wit my seat all the way back, and leaned back quite a bit, I find myself reaching a bit on the 2-3 and the 3-5 shifts. I wonder about pushing myself further away from the shifter.

 

It's not a problem for me, everything just "feels" better

now.. I do have to reach to change the radio station. That's noticeably far away

 

Does anybody still make these???

 

I sent an email to Knights asking, Ill report back if they answer.

 

I did that about a week ago. Zero response.

 

Surely someone makes brackets somewhere, lol. I need to move back and down in my 91 z28, I have to duck to see when the light turns green.

 

Another forum guy sent me this link I dont like them as much as the other ones but they are an option. If I cant find the other ones I will go with them
https://www.yearone.com/Product/PartSearchResult/SB246/

 

def not a fan of 4 individual pieces, Ive checked those out as well but have been holding out hope for a solid piece for each side.