Seat monut modifaction, Structure rigidity related Options

[Joe Ricard]

So I am fed up with aftermarket seat that sit too high.
I do however love my Recaro for it snuggly fit and super duper comfort.

I just need it lower in the car. Can I remove the cross brace infront of the seat and make some pads to weld in the car for a place to mount the seat.

Is there a car rigidity issue with this cross piece removed?

[davep]

Yes, I would think so.

[Joe Ricard]

So if I cut out the offending cross member I will have to do sumpin to duplicate the function?
A good reason to cut it out is there be rust in there. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

Maybe if I just make it shorter.

[d914]

so either move it a few inches, or weld in some square tube a few inches up.
I think brad had mentioned that this piece was less than critical. I spent too much money working around thiss piece only to find out you could move it...

[Jeroen]

QUOTE (d914 @ Dec 20 2005, 02:56 PM)

or weld in some square tube a few inches up

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/agree.gif)

[drew365]

I remember Brad saying that cross piece had no structural value and could be removed. I tried mounting my Sparco seat to the stock rails and was hitting my head on the top. I modified the Sparco brackets and removed the stock rails, the seat is now mounted only about 1/2" off the floor but it's not movable which doesn't bother me. It also discourages short guys from wanting to take a drive since they can't reach the pedals.

[Joe Ricard]

QUOTE (drew365 @ Dec 20 2005, 07:56 AM)

I remember Brad saying that cross piece had no structural value and could be removed. I tried mounting my Sparco seat to the stock rails and was hitting my head on the top. I modified the Sparco brackets and removed the stock rails, the seat is now mounted only about 1/2" off the floor but it's not movable which doesn't bother me. It also discourages short guys from wanting to take a drive since they can't reach the pedals.

Cool, Yea I told Hassan to not gain no wieght over the Holidays or he wouldn't fit in the Sparco seat I got. 31" waist 155lbs and the seat is snug on me.
The Recaro is actually a better fit for long drives to and from ... well anywhere...

[drew365]

Same here. I'm 170# with a 34" waist and it's a snug fit. I have the Sparco Rev which I think is one of the tighter seats. I'm sure you can remove that cross brace if you need to.

[Mueller]

QUOTE (drew365 @ Dec 20 2005, 08:56 AM)

I remember Brad saying that cross piece had no .....

i've only seen him remove that piece when a full cage has been installed.....

[cha914]

I removed the cross brace on my car, but I do have a welded in roll bar. I have noticed no additional flex either in the floor or in the car...

I would have never gotten the seat where I wanted it with that brace in there...especially since you have to angle a race seat a little to be square with the pedals.

Its the redneck racer right? Get to (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/sawzall-smiley.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/beer.gif)

Tony

[brant]

I originally cut that piece out for a seat fittment on a fully caged car. AJRS was VERY concerned about cutting it out.
I'm not good enough to feel the flex, but was told there would absolutely be flex.

I welded in a square tubing between the long and center about 10inches further forward.

(then 2 years later cut all of that out to make it a street car and put back in a stock location piece so a stock seat would work again... aghhhhshdkljf;awelsi09378)

[Jeroen]

maybe the x-member doesn't add to the rigidity of the car it self, but it does to the floor and it provides a strong mountingpoint for the stock seats

you can not cut it out and bolt the seat to the floor
you will have to fab some kind of frame that ties to the floor, the inner long and the center tunnel for a decent seatmount

is your seat side or bottom mounted?

[brant]

Also, one of the very vulnerable locations on a teener is side impact.

the long is the only thing keeping a T-bone (90degree impact) out of the drivers body....

when we got to designing our rollcage, we talked to some 914 racers and persons who had lived through side impacts... Its not hard for an impacting car to go over the long and crunch the door or rear quarter panel into the cockpit. Bracing that runs side to side in the chassis is a good thing.

In fact we put a piece of rollbar across the entire cockpit right behind the drivers seat in order to keep the rear door latch area out of the drivers shoulder in the event of a side impact... I think the bracing on the floor could only help in this critical safety area.

[Jeroen]

I have a side mounted f/g Recaro SPG
Here's what I did

Mock up of the frame
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/blog-1131324404.jpg)

My home made side mounts, which allow the seat so sit between the frame
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/blog-1131283756.jpg)

This way, the bottom of the seat sits flush with the top of the floor
Can't mount it any lower than that
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/blog-1131283767.jpg)

If you need adjustability, you could even mount a slider on top of the rails
(make the side mounts shorter by the height of the slider)

[Joe Ricard]

Yea Red Neck Racer is the subject of my obsession.
I am thinking of fabbing up an angle iron piece further forward and lots lower in profile. Have seat rail sliders mounted to that.

[campbellcj]

I did a similar thing but 'reinforced' the floor area under the seat mounts similarly to the above pic but with flat steel stock vs. square tubing. The stock floor pan just does not seem very strong/stiff to take the full load of the seat. You can get the seat MUCH lower w/o the crossbar. I am only about 5'10 on a good hair day but the extra helmet clearance is still a plus. Didn't notice any ill effects of cutting out the crossbar at all (8pt welded cage).

[URY914]

Joe, if it was me I'd cut it out. But you already knew that didn't you?

It is a bitch to cut out. It is spot welded all over.

Paul

[campbellcj]

QUOTE (URY914 @ Dec 20 2005, 08:33 PM)

Joe, if it was me I'd cut it out. But you already knew that didn't you? It is a bitch to cut out. It is spot welded all over. Paul

Yep; I deliberately didn't mention it's a fairly PITA job (why stop a guy from living the 914 experience to the fullest...hanging upside down from a roll cage in a too-cold/hot garage for hours, with hot metal frags flying in all directions).

If you don't have air tools, fuggitaboutit. I basically brutalized it with a cutoff wheel and saw, and then used the angle grinder and die grinder to take care of the remnants to a reasonable degree.