I have a new '86 Sunroof Coupe that gives me 1/4 inch of headroom without helmet. I am 6'4" tall. I will use it for DE, so with a helmet on, I have a problem. It currently has stock seats and I have a new Recaro SRD that I pulled out my Targa (I fit in that with a helmet.) I will be using a harness, so the stock seat will have to go. I use the car 50-50 for track and street.

Options I have heard are to:
1) Mount the stock seat to the floor, but I need harness cutouts and more support for track events.
2) Mount the Recaro to the floor, but I heard it will not fit due to recline *****.
3) Get a race seat, but I drive it on the street.
4) ???

Has any other members had good luck with other brands of sport seats or configurations?

Thanks

 

Billy,

I had the same problem, I'm 6'3" and the only solution for me was to cut the stock seat mounts off and go with side mount brackets and a race seat, even then I had to drill new holes in the bracket to get closer to the floor pan. The seat now is literally on the floor at the rear of the seat shell and the front is elevated for a slight fixed reclined position, no slider. Since your car is also street driven for a decent look you might entertain a fixed position driver's seat and a matching passenger seat with sliders just so you can get to the rear seat.
We are not abnormally tall, everyone else is short !

 

Billy,

You do have some options. One option is to reduce the height of the existing welded mount. Take maybe an inch out of each side and reweld the shortened mount to the floor. Another you mentioned was mounting directly to the floor. I know one 6'4" racer who did that with his Kirkey road race seat. Mounting the SRD that low in your 911 might face the same challenges we have mounting them in a 964, due to the 964's high center tunnel. What I've seen done is to remove the **** on one side and cut the metal adjuster post off of that side, as you really only need it on one side to work. If you only need the back to recline, you could bolt the SRD directly to the floor, however, if you needed sliders, you might be able to mount stock Porsche sliders upside down so the levers point up, meaning you'd push them down to slide the seat (that might require a minor reshaping of the levers).

 

This worked for me...I am 6'2". I had sports seats in my 80SC coupe. I went off to the Trim Shop and had them cut out the center section and mount velcro to the bottom of the seat. I also had them make me a very thin seat cushion. When I was on the street, I rode on leather...at the track, out came the leather insert, in with the thin seat cushion, and my problems vanished. Of course you have to buy a sport seat. Good luck with the project. By the way, I heard that Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks, had them cut out the floor panel and lower it. That took care of his problems...it cost thousands to do the job.

 

Billy,

I'm also 6'4" and have the same headroom minimal clearance in my '87 Coupe (w/sunroof). I stayed away from track events for a couple of years because I assumed I couldn't get into the car with a helmet on. Sliding the seat back, reclining it, etc., just didn't give me enough headroom. However, I discovered that if I slid the seat *forward*, I got more headroom, and now I drive pretty regularly on the track with my stock seats. I have to scrunch down a little, but it's tolerable. I'm now wanting a roll bar and harnesses, so I'll have to change seats; thus I'm interested in advice, too. I get the impression from reading many posts on this subject that the SRD provides as much or more headroom than a fixed-back racing seat, some of which actually take more headroom because of the way they mount. I've pretty much decided to buy an SRD and then "do what it takes" to make it work.

Will