Making more headroom in a 2g (racing seat brackets)

[Iroc_g]

Hey everybody.

Im hoping to get the car to the track a few times this year, but being 6' 3", im already grazing the room of my car with my head. To fit in with the helmet on, I really have to recline my seat alot to clear. And once I do that, my driving position is horrible.

I currently have Corbeau A4 seats with the slider brackets. I really don't want to loose the adjustibility of the sliders, so a fixed mount is not an option for me. Car has a full interior, and a sunroof.

I was reading around, and remembered that the seats are mounted to a floor reinforcement like seen below...

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I am wondering if anybody has removed these, and simply mounted their brackets to the floor pan. I actually think I would only remove the back one, to get a little tilt into the base of the seat, as I prefer this position much more than the relatively flat one I have now. I know this isn't the strongest thing I could do, but would gain about 2" of room I believe. I could also reinforce the bottom with some flat stock perhaps.

Thoughts and input are appreciated.

 

[2GbTalonGuy]

It looks like that would be weakening the structure a bit. I would recommend welding in some support if you remove them. Especially if you plan on bolting them right to the floor. Maybe weld a piece of angle iron in and bolting the seats through them to add some support and to make sure if you ever do wreck (god forbid) that the rear bolts dont just rip the floor up and send you through the windshield.

 

[disillusions]

Just a thought, but wouldn't removing the headliner on track days be a lot easier if you only plan on taking it to the track a few times per year? I'm not sure exactly how much clearance you would gain by doing so, but it might be worth a shot before you start messing with the reinforcements.

 

[cbarr0288]

Just a thought, but wouldn't removing the headliner on track days be a lot easier if you only plan on taking it to the track a few times per year? I'm not sure exactly how much clearance you would gain by doing so, but it might be worth a shot before you start messing with the reinforcements.

Probably would gain about 1" to 1.5" by removing the headliner. There's a bunch of padding and insulation. It would be much easier, you wouldn't have to worry about the structural integrity (which is needed for track especially) and you would save a few lbs.

Another thought on this one is getting a racing seat. They're usually lower profile.

 

[my dreamt dsm]

Ever heard of Honda Delsol seats. Can be had for cheap and sits very very low. Lower then some racing seats.
http://spoon.org/civic/pics/delSol-Seats.jpg

 

[disillusions]

Probably would gain about 1" to 1.5" by removing the headliner. There's a bunch of padding and insulation. It would be much easier, you wouldn't have to worry about the structural integrity (which is needed for track especially) and you would save a few lbs.

Another thought on this one is getting a racing seat. They're usually lower profile.

He actually said he was already running Corbeau A4 seats, and also wont opt for anything that doesn't slide....limited options there -_-

 

[John H]

The car might just be to small for you, you could use a fixed position seat for the track and swap it out when you DD

 

[99gst_racer]

Too bad it wasn't sunroof-less. My Talon has no sunroof, and there's quite a bit more headroom than with Eclipse with a sunroof.

 

[ceth17]

Dude I hear you I'm 6'3 and I fix just right with the seat all the way back, But I don't have a sunroof

 

[turboking15]

I cut out the front and the rear factory seat supports and welded in a combo of angle iron and 1" square stock to make new seat mounting brackets. I have sparco evo 1 seats on universal sliders and i fit with a helmet, headliner, and 10 pt rollcage.

Im also 6'4".

 

[Absit]

I'm 5'11" and with the sunroof my head rubs, without the sunroof I've got plenty of room. I hate the sunroof for so many reasons..

 

[lilbro717]

I'm going to be welding in my sunroof for this race season

 

[gusu]

My friends dad drove my car around and it was like watching a clown drive a car. The guys 7'2! I wis I could help but everything I can think of has been mentioned.

 

[Xeiros]

I ran into this problem with my GST (had a sunroof). I've often wondered if making some custom seat brackets that are lower wouldn't help a bit.

 

[Absit]

Won't have to worry about that in the new DSM bud, man I'm going to miss that headroom and the never leaking roof..

I'm subscribing to this thread in case anyone gets something done.

 

[Iroc_g]

Well, a ive talked to a few guys that have removed either one or both of the seat braces, and gained about two inches by that. They simply reinforced the under tray of the car to compensate.

This is what Im going to try. I agree that removing the headliner is a huge ordeal, and would net some gains. However, Im worried about damaging it on the R&R, or simply just sitting around getting messed up. Ive prided myself on keeping this car as "streetable" as possible, making it be a fully equipped and functional street car as well as hopefully being potent at the track. Basically, Id rather slouch than remove the headliner.

I spent most of the night fixing my garage heater, so now all I have to do is get all the crap out of the garage, and ill start. Ill update you guys for those interested.

 

[Absit]

Any updates on this thread? I've got my seats and now I'm staring at those crossbars thinking about cutting them..

 

[motozachl]

I cut and rewelded the inner mounts so that they would sit level with the outter mounts for the seats. This greatly helped and lowered the seat about 2"

 

[Absit]

I cut and rewelded the inner mounts so that they would sit level with the outter mounts for the seats. This greatly helped and lowered the seat about 2"

Got pictures? Since my new seat rails are 2" narrower than the stockers and level on all four corners I'm planning on cutting out the braces and fabbing up a slim bracket to mount directly to the floor.

 

[Absit]

It's been a while and still no news so I'm going to do a dreaded bump to try to get more details from turboking15, Irog_g, motozachl, or anyone else that's actually messed with the OE braces.

 

[Flash]

I don't understand why you want the sliders since you'll be the only one driving the car? The A4's won't give you much more head room.

 

[Absit]

I don't understand why you want the sliders since you'll be the only one driving the car? The A4's won't give you much more head room.

You're taller in the morning when you get out of bed than you are in the evening, adjust the seat accordingly!

 

[phunny]

You're taller in the morning when you get out of bed than you are in the evening, adjust the seat accordingly!

 

[ryanjayx]

Get a Spyder. Then you can just drop the top and peeps out over the windshield!

 

[96DsmTunr]

I'm 6'2" and I gained enough clearance by removing the headliner which does give you a few inches. One thing though if you don't have a racing seat and harness to keep you snug when you make a hard right turn your head may hit the tab over the window. I took black electrical tape and ran it across the edge so it wouldn't chip/scratch up my motorcycle helmet.