[Taiden]

Alright, so I drove a friends S14 over the weekend for autocross.

I fell in love with it. It was a bone stock S14 with GR2s, bad brakes and a shitty Viper alarm system. Something about the way it pushed me around the course made me really want to build an STS 240sx. Over the next year or so I will be putting together an S13 on the side to be used as a stepping stone for a serious street car and a Solo2 STS fist machine.

As we know, with all love, comes pain. When I sit in the driver's seat, my head smacks the headliner. I'm a pretty tall guy. I was 6'3" the last time I checked (last year). I am probably about 6'4" right now.

As you can imagine, a helmet makes things a little bit more difficult, considering it adds about 2" to your height.

I had to stick the top of my head out of the sunroof in order to fit. Because I was leaning to the right for all my runs, my back hurts a lot right now.

I'm wondering if you guys know what it would take to get an S13 to fit a guy my size.

 

[McCoy]

I'm 6'3" and barely fit in my S13 coupe (no sunroof) with a heltmet on.

I'll be using a Sparco Evo to get my seating position even lower sometime this year.

 

[Taiden]

I'm 6'3" and barely fit in my S13 coupe (no sunroof) with a heltmet on.

I'll be using a Sparco Evo to get my seating position even lower sometime this year.

Do you actually fit, though? I have *heard* that the S13 seats sit lower.

Approximately how much lower can a fixed back seat get you on an S13? I plan on running an aftermarket seat, too

 

[McCoy]

I'm new to the 240 scene, so I don't really know how much lower the S13 sits compared to the S14.

To answer your question, yes I do fit fine with the helmet off... I'm only 185lbs, so I'm not really that big.

The Sparco Evo seats use sidemount holes for mounting, this can allow you to get the seat lower and it also has a removal seat cushion, this will also allow you to drop down an addtional 1". I'll know more in the next month or two once I get the seat in.

 

[SoSideways]

Actually, it feels like the S14 seat in S14s sit lower than S14 seats in S13s.

S13 seats in S13s FEEL like it's lower cause the bottom cushion on the S13 seats are usually worn down and compressed, so it's "lower".

You can probably gain an inch or half an inch by running the Bride/Nagisa super low rails and side mount seat brackets.

Moving the seat back also helps.

 

[sr20goofus]

its very tough getting any seat low enough for the 6'2" community in any S-chassis (13/14).

i have come up with another method for mounting my seat low enough to clear rollcage bars (legally) and generally have enough space between my helmet and the roof (4"). I am 6'4" and my car is track only making my mods easier to consider and accomplish without worry of not being streetable.

the hump for the catalytic converter in teh floor is why our seats sit so high, this has to be trimmed in order to get it very low, i even tried making my own mounts to get my race seats as low as possible, but it only gave me a 2" max clearence between helmet and roof, nto enough in my mind.

i cut the cat hump out from the front seat support back, and filled it in weith metal to open up the floor more. then i used 3/16" flat bar to be teh baseplates for my seat rails which were made out of a combination of angle steel and square tube.


this setup gave me 4" clearence over my helmet, and a VERY solid mounted seat all while following all safety regulations in SCCA and NASA rule books.

i will post more pics of the actual seat rails next weekend, for now you get to see the cut-up/welded up floor and drawing of rails in Windows Paint.


enjoy...

seat rail drawing...

similar design, except furter back, and maintaining the chassis brace....

 

[McCoy]

^^^ Thanks for sharing the pictures and comments... I'd really like to see the pictures of your sliders that your building.

I'm having a cage, basic 4pt with harness bar and cross brace, built sometime this year and am really wanting to get the seat as low as possible for safety reasons as you mentioned.

 

[veilside180sx]

Why did you not remove the cat hump all the way to even out the floorboard further forward?

Monty I told you to bring that mother hummer over here and we'll take care of it.=)

 

[McCoy]

^^^ I didn't forget your offer . I just want to see what others have done... not many people posting up pictures of seat mounting.

 

[sr20goofus]

^^^ Thanks for sharing the pictures and comments... I'd really like to see the pictures of your sliders that your building.

I'm having a cage, basic 4pt with harness bar and cross brace, built sometime this year and am really wanting to get the seat as low as possible for safety reasons as you mentioned.

no sliders.....hard mounted, sliders are bad-news-bears for track.....not recommended, bt you can use universal Sparco sliders if you wanted i guess, wouldnt be ahrd to mount....

Why did you not remove the cat hump all the way to even out the floorboard further forward?

i wanted to keep that brace in there as some structural support, some people think it doesnt do anything but mount seats, i think it helps to stiffen across floor boards. That and i didnt need to cut forward any further then where it is now, caus eim tall enough to keep the seat that far back. make sense?

 

[Shift_Munky]

I am 6'0", have completely removed my sunroof, and my helmet hits the top of the car in a S14 seat in my S13. I need to fix this soon somehow, or risk scratching the crap outta my new Simpson helmet.

More pix, Gaysey. Now.

 

[McCoy]

no sliders.....hard mounted, sliders are bad-news-bears for track.....not recommended, bt you can use universal Sparco sliders if you wanted i guess, wouldnt be ahrd to mount....

:redface: I meant to say seat mount, not sliders.

I've used the univeral sparco sliders in my sentra for the past two years and don't really feel comfortable with them on track... especially when a cage is added

 

[SoSideways]

Andy - this is how you fix your problem

 

[Shift_Munky]

Andy - this is how you fix your problem

Dude, howTF did you know what helmet I had? Well, that's almost it, I have a Super Voyager in frat brack.

 

[Taiden]

I personally just need enough room to be able to wear my helmet for autocross. There is no caging and worries of flipping over for me.

Since I'll be building this on the side, I suppose I could cut out the cat hump... I don't think that's legal for STS, but the club I run in is very leniant on the rules.

 

[sr20goofus]

I personally just need enough room to be able to wear my helmet for autocross. There is no caging and worries of flipping over for me.

Since I'll be building this on the side, I suppose I could cut out the cat hump... I don't think that's legal for STS, but the club I run in is very leniant on the rules.

i have a feeling they will make an exception for safety, most sanctioing bodies do.

 

[sr20goofus]

Sorry i didnt feel like removing my seat for pics...time was an issue and these should explain themselves enough me thinks...

harness bar location...WAY LOW....gettin fixed in about 3 weeks, still deciding wheather to leave the old harness bar in there to avoid removing it, or to remove it due to its uslessness.

pic:

 

[Shift_Munky]

Casey, I am insanely jealous. Add that to my already-outstanding hatred for you, and you've got a whopper of a nemesis for VIR.

 

[sr20boostn20]

im 6'7" and i drive a s13 hatch with the stock seats, now i dont autocross or drift my car but i do drag it im not gonna lie with the helmit on its kinda rough blasting down the track, but it reall dosent affect me that much. maby just because i dont have ti on that long. i just slouch in the seat a bit more.

 

[jaymzking]

im 5'2" so i cant say i know how you feel..i can pretty much fit in one of these

but i do no of one way you can solve your problem without any modification

although i wouldnt recommend it cuz i personally dont like convertibles but to each its own