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Body, Paint, Interior and Trim questions and answers

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BigDamo
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Postby BigDamo » Thu Jun 04, 2009 7:09 pm

I guess this is a question for the vertically well endowed members of the forum.

At a shade over 6 5 I'm just wondering if there are any secret mods that I've missed that will liberate a wee bit more driver room?

So far I've removed that foot rest, removed the drivers sun visor and a bit of foam from the drivers chair all of which has made things a bit better (and also shed a few precious grams).

I should probably mention that its an NB8A. I'm wondering about trying to take out the drivers side door pull for a bit more knuckle room for right hand turns. It looks to be a seperate section but it may look a bit naff.

Cheers

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Szemen
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Postby Szemen » Thu Jun 04, 2009 7:29 pm

New seats with ultra low rails? :P

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sliq
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Postby sliq » Thu Jun 04, 2009 7:36 pm

what szemen said :idea: get low rails and a bucket seat. that will plant your backside pretty low
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wun911
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Postby wun911 » Thu Jun 04, 2009 8:48 pm

remove stuffing out of the stock seat to sit lower...
every ounce counts

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bensale
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Postby bensale » Thu Jun 04, 2009 9:02 pm

I know you sit lower in a na6 than you do in a nb8a although I'm not sure if its due to the seat or the rails. Further more I'm not sure weather the rails are interchangable but as I've been nb seats in na's I assume they must be in some way.

If this is due to the seat itself perhaps you could buy a na6 seat and take the foam out of that? Perhaps a more livable option than a bucket seat.
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Jace
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Postby Jace » Thu Jun 04, 2009 10:26 pm

drive in socks.
there's 1-2cm right there...

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AB7
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Postby AB7 » Thu Jun 04, 2009 10:30 pm

What everyone said, low rails but I don't think MX5 will be comfortable for anyone over 6.5
BTW put NA door trim will help you gain some space also

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Szemen
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Postby Szemen » Thu Jun 04, 2009 11:04 pm

wun911 wrote:remove stuffing out of the stock seat to sit lower...

BigDamo wrote:... a bit of foam from the drivers chair all of which has made things a bit better (and also shed a few precious grams).

He already did that.

AB7, do NA door trim just go straight into a NB?

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bigdog
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Postby bigdog » Thu Jun 04, 2009 11:53 pm

Very hard to get a seat lower and still use rails - there is stuff all space under the OEM rails and the floor is not flat. If you were really serious you could lower the floor on the driver's side - you would need to weld in some support underneath though. Otherwise bolting the seat direct to the floor is the only way you'll get any more room - you'll need either a flat bottomed after market seat or you'll need to modify the base of the OEM seat to sit flat... but that won't give you much thigh support. I found the OBX Forza bucket to be the most comfortable seat for my oversize frame. I used the original rails though and retained the adjustment as I'm only 6'2". Bear in mind that fixed back buckets are much more difficult to get in and out of, esp with the roof up. Some days I would resort to putting the roof down in the rain to avoid bruising :roll: :frown: I went back to stock cloth NB8B seats for comfort - leather seats are more thickly padded and sit you higher.
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RG.net
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Postby RG.net » Tue Jun 09, 2009 1:41 pm

sparco sprint - problem solved.
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CheyneX5
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Postby CheyneX5 » Tue Jun 09, 2009 2:04 pm

I found you sit higher in a sprint...
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Alex
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Postby Alex » Tue Jun 09, 2009 2:19 pm

CheyneX5 wrote:I found you sit higher in a sprint...

hmm, in my sprint V It was quite a bit lower, that's with it mounted on the stock rails as well
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BigDamo
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Postby BigDamo » Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:27 pm

Cheers for the ideas folks.

There seems to be a few differing opinions about the bucket seats, some seem to thing they sit you lower some higher... Either way I don't really want to go the bucket route as its my daily driver and it seems to be a PITA to get in and out of buckets especially with long legs.

I'm quite keen on the idea of getting some seats from an elise as these seem to give you more head and leg room while still being usable and looking reasonably OEM. But I'd probably have to get them from the UK and get them shipped and then get some sort of custom rails made which would probably be a bit exe - maybe one day.

It would be fun to try and get rid of the mounting humps and bolt the chairs directly to the floor just to see how low you could go but that just seems like a bit of a scary idea.

RG.net
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Postby RG.net » Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:32 pm

CheyneX5 wrote:I found you sit higher in a sprint...


Then your doing something wrong!
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Okibi
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Postby Okibi » Wed Jun 10, 2009 4:37 pm

Take a look at the Sparco Roadster buckets, MX52NV has some in his NA and their low sides make them very liveable from day to day.

One day i'll get a set ... pity I only won $20 in lotto last night $40mil next week !
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