Lowering the drivers seat.
03-08-2002, 02:47 AM
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Lowering the drivers seat.
Has anybody lowered the drivers seat to obtain a better driving position? I'm just over 6 ft tall but i feel thjat i am sitting far to high. Any ideas?
03-08-2002, 09:12 AM
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I did not lower the seat but I made some elevating shims for the front of the seat because I feel there isn't enough thigh support(I'm 6'1").
I was able to get it up about 1" before the seat rail floor mounting bolt hole alignment wouldn't fit anymore.
It works well. I just cobbled up some plastic shims I got from PEP boys.
These cars do suffer greatly from a lack of a few simple seat bottom elevation/tilt adjustments.
Why, even my first 240Z had several 1/2" shims screwed under the seat for those who wanted to add them to the rails.
Good luck.
I was able to get it up about 1" before the seat rail floor mounting bolt hole alignment wouldn't fit anymore.
It works well. I just cobbled up some plastic shims I got from PEP boys.
These cars do suffer greatly from a lack of a few simple seat bottom elevation/tilt adjustments.
Why, even my first 240Z had several 1/2" shims screwed under the seat for those who wanted to add them to the rails.
Good luck.
03-08-2002, 11:03 AM
#3
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If you are willing to use an aftermarket seat, you can achieve more than 3 inches of additional headroom by using a mount that will place the seat between the rails closest to the floor pan with out dragging.
The best combination I have found is the TAITEC Sliding Seat Rail and Recaro SPG or Sparco REV seat. You can find both here:
http://www.scienceofspeed.com/products/S2000/
Cheers,
-- Chris
The best combination I have found is the TAITEC Sliding Seat Rail and Recaro SPG or Sparco REV seat. You can find both here:
http://www.scienceofspeed.com/products/S2000/
Cheers,
-- Chris
03-08-2002, 01:29 PM
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Chris (from Science of Speed) welcome! I hope you monitor and get involved in this board.
For those of you who don't know about Science of Speed, check out NSXprime.com. SOS is a great vendor/resource for the NSX community and run by real enthusiasts. It's always good to have new, fresh ideas here. So, welcome and I for one look forward to your contribution.
For those of you who don't know about Science of Speed, check out NSXprime.com. SOS is a great vendor/resource for the NSX community and run by real enthusiasts. It's always good to have new, fresh ideas here. So, welcome and I for one look forward to your contribution.
03-09-2002, 05:40 PM
#6
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Hey Dwrights,
I have successfully lowered my drivers seat! I am 6'4" and had the same issue as yourself. It's not an easy project, so get ready for some drilling and cutting.
1) Remove seat from car by removing the four main seat bolts that hold the seat to the floor. Also unplug the seatbelt indicator that runs from the seat and under the carpet.
2) Turn seat upside down and remove all copper rings that attach the seat leather to the bottom of the seat pan. A couple of Needle nose pliers will do the trick.
3) Remove the 2 front side bolts and 2 rear bottom bolts that hold the seat pan to the seat rails. You will need a metric rachet set to do this.
4) Remove seat bottom and pull leather off from around the seat pan rim. After doing this, the cushion and leather will come right out. Don't go to the trouble of removing the leather from the seat cushion, because there is no need.
5) Using the proper size drill bit, drill a new hole an 1/8 of an inch above the 2 existing side front seat pan holes. Make sure you drill high enough to give room for another inside mounted nut. You will need to go pick you up a couple of nuts that will fit the existing bolt that the seat is connected to the seat rails with.
"JB Weld" these nuts to the inside of the seat pan just like the existing ones. This entire effort will lower the front portion of the seat about 1 1/2 inches.
6) To lower the rear part of the seat, you will need to do some hammering! I know this sounds crazy, but it works. Hammer the bottom of the seat pan and make sure that you keep it in proportion on each side. I actually hammered using a rubber headed hammer, by hitting directly on the two protruding bolts that come from the seat pan bottom. You can gain at least an inch to an inch and 1/2 by doing this.
7) Before putting the seat cushion back in, make sure that you haven't hammered the bolts out of wacked so that they won't match up to the seat rail brackets that the bolts should attach to. If you did do this , just hammer some more until you get it back in line.
8) (OPTIONAL) I cut and removed some of the seat cushion to get another half inch or so. Using a utility knife, you can cut into the cushion fairly easy. I then just started pinching pieces off little by little to make sure I didn't mess it up.
9) Put it all back together just like it was. Make sure that your nuts are lined up and very secure from using the "JB Weld" (No pun intended here Ha! ha!). You can find JB Weld at Wal-Mart.
It took me about 4 hours to complete. I know for a fact that after doing this, I lowered my seat 1 1/2 inches.
I can now see Red Lights with out ducking beneath my sunvisor all the time (When I'm the first car at the light that is). Good Luck! You can gain additional to this, by really cutting away a lot of the seat cushion. You may have to play around with it to get the results you like best. GOOD LUCK!!!
Greg
g_cherry@bellsouth.net
I have successfully lowered my drivers seat! I am 6'4" and had the same issue as yourself. It's not an easy project, so get ready for some drilling and cutting.
1) Remove seat from car by removing the four main seat bolts that hold the seat to the floor. Also unplug the seatbelt indicator that runs from the seat and under the carpet.
2) Turn seat upside down and remove all copper rings that attach the seat leather to the bottom of the seat pan. A couple of Needle nose pliers will do the trick.
3) Remove the 2 front side bolts and 2 rear bottom bolts that hold the seat pan to the seat rails. You will need a metric rachet set to do this.
4) Remove seat bottom and pull leather off from around the seat pan rim. After doing this, the cushion and leather will come right out. Don't go to the trouble of removing the leather from the seat cushion, because there is no need.
5) Using the proper size drill bit, drill a new hole an 1/8 of an inch above the 2 existing side front seat pan holes. Make sure you drill high enough to give room for another inside mounted nut. You will need to go pick you up a couple of nuts that will fit the existing bolt that the seat is connected to the seat rails with.
"JB Weld" these nuts to the inside of the seat pan just like the existing ones. This entire effort will lower the front portion of the seat about 1 1/2 inches.
6) To lower the rear part of the seat, you will need to do some hammering! I know this sounds crazy, but it works. Hammer the bottom of the seat pan and make sure that you keep it in proportion on each side. I actually hammered using a rubber headed hammer, by hitting directly on the two protruding bolts that come from the seat pan bottom. You can gain at least an inch to an inch and 1/2 by doing this.
7) Before putting the seat cushion back in, make sure that you haven't hammered the bolts out of wacked so that they won't match up to the seat rail brackets that the bolts should attach to. If you did do this , just hammer some more until you get it back in line.
8) (OPTIONAL) I cut and removed some of the seat cushion to get another half inch or so. Using a utility knife, you can cut into the cushion fairly easy. I then just started pinching pieces off little by little to make sure I didn't mess it up.
9) Put it all back together just like it was. Make sure that your nuts are lined up and very secure from using the "JB Weld" (No pun intended here Ha! ha!). You can find JB Weld at Wal-Mart.
It took me about 4 hours to complete. I know for a fact that after doing this, I lowered my seat 1 1/2 inches.
I can now see Red Lights with out ducking beneath my sunvisor all the time (When I'm the first car at the light that is). Good Luck! You can gain additional to this, by really cutting away a lot of the seat cushion. You may have to play around with it to get the results you like best. GOOD LUCK!!!
Greg
g_cherry@bellsouth.net
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03-11-2002, 11:16 AM
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I have been away over the weekend, so i could not post my thankyou's earlier. Anyway a big Thanks to Greg for the detailed write up, i will try the mod at the weekend.
Also thanks to science of speed.
Also thanks to science of speed.
Good write-up Greg!
03-12-2002, 08:51 AM
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by dwrights
[B]I have been away over the weekend, so i could not post my thankyou's earlier. Anyway a big Thanks to Greg for the detailed write up, i will try the mod at the weekend.
[B]I have been away over the weekend, so i could not post my thankyou's earlier. Anyway a big Thanks to Greg for the detailed write up, i will try the mod at the weekend.