I've just finished installing my OMP HTE bucket seat on recaro seat rails w/ slider and speedware sidemounts in my 944 turbo.

I have a full cage in my car, with SFI padding everywhere, including the correct harder padding for the bars directly above and around my helmet.

The problem is that when I move the seat far enough forward so that I can push the clutch all the way in, my helmet is less than an inch away from the top bar. If I tilt my head forward even a little bit, my helmet hits the padding. The other problem is, if I tilt my head left, it also hits the upper side bar, instead of the halo on the seat. If I tilt my head right, it does hit the padded halo of the seat as it should.

Obviously, I have adjusted the seat so that it is as far down low as possible. I have also reclined it as much as I can because that helps get my head lower. And obviously I have removed all the padding from the bottom of the seat.

I HAVE to keep the sliders because if I bolt or weld the seat into the driver's position, I literally can't get out, even with the pop-off steering wheel removed.

I'm not sure what else to do. If I slouch down in the seat, I have more clearance, but then I have a huge gap between my lower back and the seat.

The only thing I can think of is to somehow move the pedals forward, although I am totally afraid of how much work and $$$ that is going to be in a class where I can't even do that according to the rules.

I can't be the only one with this issue. Am I wussing out about how little clearance I have? I just worry if I ever rolled and hit top driver's corner, my head would get crushed in.

I'm only 5'11" and 180lbs.. not that tall.

 

You are right to be concerned, thats dangerous. The header bar on the 944 can be an issue with the rake of the windshield, my suggestion is to rock the seat backwards to give you more headroom and still keep the pedal throw. If needed add a hub spacer to move the wheel back. I drilled additional holes in the mount to drop the seat lower, you could try a different set of sideplates or lastly cut the rails out and have a seat pan made. ... I finally gave up on the halo seat in the 44 and ditched the sliders... Just couldn't make it work...

 

Rich, I'm a similar size and that would be a concern for me. Not sure if you have the budget or the inclination, let alone rules approval..but can you install a pedal box and move the seat back? Also do you have a single skin roof or sunroof model? Not that you can change your cage now without further major expense but we gained a heap of room by switching the roof over to a single. The other benefit of a pedal box is removal of all the OEM booster and m/c stuff. This clears up a lot of underhood room for other 'stuff'.

Might seem like a big modification but you have to deal with the Cage/head situation and this is definitely one way of doing it with 'WIN' running all through the exercise. The modulation of my new brakes was seriously way nicer than the old OEM boosted (how long until I flat spot another set of new tyres?) setup. The other upside is better weight distribution and CoG in the cabin as you're further back and can remove the sliders so can sit lower. When I first sat in the car with the new position it felt like I would never see an apex again, but once back in the car I didn't even think for one second that I had limited vision. Of course you need to extend the steering wheel boss. Trying to give a few indications of all the new room. See how my seat is now back in line with the 'B' pillar. I think I've gained about 4-6" extra room by moving backwards.

Hope this is of use.

 

Rich,

That's too close for comfort in my opinion. My cage builder moved the front bar as far forward as possible in my car as I am shorter than you (5'8"). With my seat bolted as close to the floor as possible, I have plenty of room between helmet and bars. I do not use sliders and have a full containment seat, that makes getting in and out of the car a bit more difficult, but I've learned to deal with it.

By the way, I looked into putting a pedal box (floor mount) in my car since I've switched over to a DMC brake system. I ended up not doing it as it would have put my head directly under the roll bar and I was not confortable with that. If you consider doing what Patrick suggests, make sure that your not sitting directly under the main roll hoop

Edit: here is a pic of my seat with respect to the rear hoop. I would have had to move my seat back at least 3" in order to install the floor mounted tilton setup. My main hoop is directly in line with the B-pillar, Patricks appears to be further back.

 

I worked on a 944/951 type for someone with the same issue. Only cheap fix we came up with other than moving the pedal cluster back was to lower the seat and rake/lean the seat back. I also added a steering wheel extender.
Lowering the seat helps to move the head down and shorten the angle between the hips and pedals. This makes the legs "longer" in a way and gets the seat back some more this also makes the exit hole a bit bigger. I would not want to have a setup that requires you to move the seat back in order to exit the car in a hurry or not. Sliders have a way of getting bent or jammed up in a wreck.

 

Rich, here's the only pic I can find showing how my builder did the front bar. See how far forward he placed it. The front window glass is close to hitting the bar when installed.

 

Rich, a few years ago I had exactly this same issue, and it's very dangerous. Your helmet will strike that bar way before the Hans stops you. We had a good discussion on this forum and I solved it, I suggest you read that thread, I dug it up for you:

https://rennlist.com/forums/racing-a...dangerous.html

 

Another option i forgot to mention is an old 911 trick, may or may not solve the exit clearance issue:

Take off the sliders
Move the seat back/rock it until you get the window exit clearance.
Cut the top 2" or so, of the pedal arm off and weld a 1/2" I'd tube to the lever.
Weld a 1/2" hardened steer threaded rod to the pedal stub, or make a new pedal, length depends on the distance and adjustability needed.
Install with a pair of jamb nuts on each side of the tube on the arm
Repeat for clutch
Install a extension block or just relocate the accell pedal base forward
Add a spacer to the wheel

This takes a bit of work to keep the pedal geometry correct, you need to shorten the arm and mount the tube at an angle. A new stop for the clutch will limit over center throw the 944 don't need that much. Also you may be limited by the main hoop and harness bar for overall travel.

Anyway after all is said this is a ton of work to get a halo, as much as I like them and feel weird without it's hard to make it work in this car. The other option is a Kirkey style containment seat that is thinner and more adjustability than a shell, but I prefer the shell so I went back to a non halo seat....

 

You gotta get this problem solved for sure. If it's pedal reach causing the problem, then put some type of blocks on them. Ghetto racers would just screw in a piece of wood. For my M3 race car, I bought a hunk of plastic from www.mcmaster.com , cut to fit, drilled out to lighten it, screwed onto my pedals (all 3), then screwed nice pedal covers on top. Takes time but had to be done. Mine are like 1.7" thick IIRC. Or you may need to go even more drastic as described above.

 

Ok. I'm going to try modifying the pedals first. Moving weight back is a good thing. I agree with the fact that a slider could get stuck in a crash, and being stuck far forward is baaaaaad.

Thanks for the advice guys.. I was thinking of doing it, but had reservations.. good to know others have done it before me with some success.

Getting the Halo seat in the car with a cage already in it, + the rails and side brackets.. holy ***** what a painful experience.

 

Show us some pics of your cage Rich?

 

I did exactly what this guy did on my E46 M3. I used PVC blocks purchased from McMaster, countersunk 4 screws into the blocks, then bolted them to the pedals, and finally placed some cut-out vinyl rubber pads on top using PVC pipe solvent compound.

They look very much like the OEM set-up. The only tricky part is being very careful about where you drill the pedals, and aligning all the holes. Remember to use nylon stop nuts to bolt them on so nothing comes loose.

Good luck.

 

Not a great pic but you get the idea. How far back the driver's head is from the front of the roof where the bar is.

 

Also consider removing the padding in the base of the seat, it's probably good for nearly an inch. If you have sliders, you could remove those.

A picture with you in the car would be helpful. If necessary you may want to move that bar. As you can see on my cage, Patrick's and Lemmers, the top forward bar is oriented as far forward as possible.

 

Your setup looks excellent Jim. Is that an 8-ball shifter I spy?