rhk109

Had my first 911 (76 Turbo-look with 83 3.0 and webers) for a month now and loving it. Anyway I am 6'5", 230lbs and although I am used to craming myself into tight places, I am looking for some advice on getting more head and leg room. I was thinking of a new seat (Recaro SRD?) with the lowest seatrails I can find. Any other seat reccomendations for a big guy? Currently the car has electric seats out of an 86. I am also planning on a dished steering wheel (Momo Mod 70?) with an extension to get the wheel a littler closer and provide more thigh clearance. After all this will the shifter be too far away? Any other tall guys have any good solutions? I would rather not cut, weld or drill the car. Bolt onis preferred.

Thanks

Bill Gregory

SRD's, or any racing seat, will gain you some headroom. If I remember correctly, I picked up around 3/4" in both my SC and C2 from SRD's (maybe a tad more in the C2 with electric seats). Racing seats will get you more headroom, but won't be adjustable for rake, like SRD's. Make sure you sit in any potential seat, as, like helmets, they fit of us differently. Although you don't want to go this way, I know one person who is around 6'4" who cut the rails out and mounted his seat to the floor. I seem to recall another person who cut the rails down and rewelded them in order to gain some more headroom.

On the steering wheel, there are various spacers you can get to move the steering wheel out towards you.

Ed Bighi

I agree with Bill. Get some SRDs with an extension for the steering wheel and you should be fine. I would not cut anything since that is not an elegant or easily reversible way to go.

Juan

Have you seen the movie DEEP THROAT???

Roamer

rhk, as for the steering wheel, go with the 1.5" spacer from Pelican, I am 6'3, 225lbs, and it made a big difference in my ability to heel and toe. It also brings the wheel out to a position that is much more comfortable given how far back you need to put the seat. As for headroom, I would go with a new seat. Fortunately this is not a problem for me in the targa.

Ted Drake

I have an 86 911 TL.

On the wheel consider one of the new wheels that is not round but squared off at the bottom. Mine is called the Apache. Makes it much easyier to get in and out of the 911. The square wheel might not be the hot ticket for AX/DE. I have a 1 inch spacer too. Got it all from Pelican.

I just had some Sheel buckets that I bolted to the chassis seat rails in the lowest most reward position. They are fixed since every fraction of an inch helps I removed the sliders for extra headroom.

Shifter is not really a problem though I might try to create a shifter that is angled back and a little longer like the G-50 equiped cars have. This would most likely interfere with the hand brake when up when the gear lever is in the 2nd, 4th and revese positions.

Teutonics

I'm one of the guys that did the cut and re-weld, and I have been very happy with the results (and the price!). I wanted to keep a stock interior and appearance, and getting it done professionally was less than one of the cheaper replacement seats. It's also easily "reversible", as Porsche sells seat spacer kits to raise it back up to the original height (I had 1" removed).

However, I think the brackets are different between the early and later cars, but the concept should be the same.

Here's the left bracket after modification:


The right bracket:


Both brackets:


And a comparison shot of the new driver height to the old passenger height. It's kind of hard to tell in the pic, but the bracket on the right is above the trans tunnel, the one on the left is below the top of the tunnel:

GrantG

Recaro Pole Positions can be mounted low and they are very generous in the width department too. They are not reclinable though, if that matters.

rhk109

Can the Recaro Pole position be used with stock seat belts or is a harness necessary.

Jason F

I am 6'7 and 215 and drive a 1977 911. I did not seem to get any head room advantage by installing my Sparco Evo seats until I had the raised mounting locations cut and the seat rails mounted directly to the floor. This, along with the removal of the sunroof metal, resulted in ample upright headroom with helmet on.

Sparco steering wheel with about 3" of dish makes a HUGE difference in my driving comfort.

I would get dished wheel or spacer first, then go for the seat. You may find that laying down is fine if you can reach the steering wheel.

Just my $.02

Jason