synolimit

Makes sense.

2000atlanticgt

iTrader: (5)

So, been a while since I started this thread but once I had the driver's seat where i wanted it I had a custom roll bar welded in. I also decided to be lazy and have the shop that was doing the roll bar do the passenger side seat base modifications as well while it was there. Then when I saw it I was reminded why I usually never let other people work on my car. The roll bar turned out very nice as it ended up being outsourced to another shop that specializes in building race car roll cages (long story, but turned out to be a blessing) but shop I dropped the car off at attempted to lower the passenger side seat to match what I had done on the driver's side resulted in the passenger side seat still sitting a good 2" higher. I was not pleased, been dealing with it for a while now and decided to take care of that this past weekend.

Just like Blurvision already posted, the passenger side floor makes it more of a challenge to get the seat base on the floor due to there being elevated sections of the floor on the left side (transmission tunnel side), a good 2-3" higher than the right side (near door). The shop that attempted to lower the passenger side seat did lower it but they stopped where it got more difficult. It was easier to make a bracket in the front left side but it get more involved in the rear left side as you need to notch the entire base plate out.

Before notice passenger side seat sitting a solid 2" higher:



Here is the base that the shop modified resulting in the seat still sitting too high:







After I notched the base plate, made new rear brackets, and bent the front brackets to sit at the new angle, now the base plate sitting right on the floor.



Final product, both seats sitting the same height, about as low as they can go in the car.

Blurvision

iTrader: (4)

Looking good! Nice work.

TheRedZed

Back from the dead. I've got the same issue. The picture of the final bracket config is gone - any chance that could be restored?

N80

Add on question. If you wanted to mount the race seat on the passenger side just with typical fixed side mounts, is the configuration of the passenger side floor going to cause issues with that?

I'm an HPDE instructor now. I like taking students out in my car but it currently just has the OEM seat and belt config while I am in a race seat/6 point/ HANS. I explain to students the difference and the risk but so far they are willing to ride. But, this is not ideal and I either need to 1) Stop taking students out in the OEM seat, 2) just remove the OEM seat completely or 3) Get a race seat installed somehow. It is okay with me if it is fixed with no slider.

Opinions welcome.

TheRedZed

The problem I have is the seat is so high you have to lay it back to accommodate and instructor over 5' with a helmet. It is a terrible design, surprised Planted would put out a bracket so poorly designed. I would have paid more for a better solution. I will be cutting and welding so the instructors can be comfortable with my car (not necessarily with my driving!).

As an advanced student, most of the clubs I ran required both the passenger and driver seat to have equal capabilities. I know if I was instructing in the right seat, I'd sure want the safety gear. I ridden along with many instructors who either didn't have the safety eqpmt installed correctly or, like you just had an OEM seat for the passenger. Or a combination of both (took my life in my hands!). I don't think most students know enough to say no to a ride - I wanted to learn badly enough that I overlooked the risk. My opinion is that an instructor can instruct in more than driving skills - he can set the example with the safety gear. And for an instructor's car with a passenger I definitely recommend the safety gear. Most of the crashes I've seen have been instructors - which makes sense; they are the most likely drivers/cars on the track to be driving near the limit because they are so good at it.

N80

[QUOTE=TheRedZed;10955152]The problem I have is the seat is so high you have to lay it back to accommodate and instructor over 5' with a helmet. It is a terrible design, surprised Planted would put out a bracket so poorly designed. I would have paid more for a better solution. I will be cutting and welding so the instructors can be comfortable with my car (not necessarily with my driving!).[quote]

That is why I'm considering simple side mounts for the passenger seat. It would save me the cost of the Planted bracket and might allow a lower mounting position..........but I'm not sure. I haven't looked at the floor on the passenger side. Will have to get the OEM seat out and take a look. My car is pretty much just a track car now so it doesn't matter to me if the seat does not slide. I'll just mount it all the way back. You'd lose access to the stowage box behind the seat but mine is gone anyway due to roll bar.

Hope you get more detailed replies to figure this out.

I'm not sure if it is required by NASA but it is strongly encouraged and an instructor would have the right not to ride if safety gear was not equal.

Agreed. I either need to stop taking them out or get the gear installed somehow. Looks like I won't be going with the Planted bracket. The Planted bracket for the driver side works great and sits very low....I'm 6'4".

I feel like I see more crashes in DE 1 but have no idea what the actual stats are.

I think there are other threads here that describe modifying the Planted passenger bracket but as I recall it involved cutting and welding.

2000atlanticgt

iTrader: (5)

I have been off this page for a while, sorry for the slow reply. I can see the photos in this thread just fine on my computer. Are you saying you cannot see them and would like to? Worst case I can email them to you if you send me your address.

As for being able to mount the side brackets directly to the floor (if that was the question), it has been 4 years since I tackled this job but looking at my photos above I think the answer is no. You can see that the inside as a step up in the rear but the outboard side also is not even close to flat, left and right sides not parallel either. The OEM mounting locations are built up to allow them to be on the same plane but the floor around them is anything but smooth or on the same plane front/back or left/right.

Giovamike27

The brackets are designed to fit the car the seats are universal so its expected to do some drilling

Blurvision

iTrader: (4)

With the planted brackets modified to sit on the floor like we have posted previously. You can get the passenger seat extremely low, so much that anyone under 5 foot cant see over the dash.

Blurvision

iTrader: (4)

As an instructor why would this even be a question? You know why safety gear is important, students do not. They will ride out of pure naiveness looking to get impressed. Please same gear always. Set the right example.