Seat Rails Extended

[Tangles]

OK,

After having my 9th knee surgery I figure I gotta look after my legs a bit better, being 6ft8 and driving a Stagea is quite cramped for leg room, comfort etc.

I need the drivers seat rails extended in length so that I can drive it with the seat extended right back to the rear seats, and my wife can drive it with the seat at the closet position to the controls. I also figure it should have an engineers certificate in case of a accident & insurance claim.

Wouldnt mind a nice comfy Recaro but I can add that later. Where should I be going to have this done? Im thinking Willshere Motor Trimmers but does anyone have any suggestions?

Brendan

[Tangles]

Alternatively, what are the dangers of taking out my seat rail, and redrilling holes further backwards, and bolting the seat back into these new holes, so it sits further back?

Is that legal?

Again, where can I get this done? I cant kneel anymore so therefore I cant do it myself.

Edited May 31, 2006 by Tangles

[MrAnderson]

your best bet is to ring around some places. whillshere are the most $$ place in adelaide.... got to them and expect to pay at least 500$ per seat.... . most car seats usually have a rail that attaches to the floor and a second rail that slides in this and is attached to the seat... what you may be able to do is mount the rail attached to the seat further forward - which will ofset the seat further backwards in relation to its original position... however this will mean that you will lose x cm from the closest point you can now put your seat to the steering wheel. mounting seats is a right pain in the arse... i didi it in my alfa with some recaro style ones and eneded out getting a friend to help me do it (he has a whole heap of metal working equip) the thing is to keep it legal allways try and use the factory mounts and brackets - just modify them and make sure you use material that is stronger than the factory metal... perhaps if you remove thepassenger seat, take the rails of and have a think about it you might find a reasonable and easy solution... if you take the passenger one out post some pics and i might be able to suggest something.good luck

[MrAnderson]

oops soorry just read the not kneeling bit! scratch what i said then. prob best just to ring around (further north or south might be cheapest)

[Deluxe]

Brendan as for the legality of doin it............ahhhhh i wouldn't worry about it, because of some other stuff on your car. Even if you were to get defected for other things than that and had to go to regency you would put the rails back in! And besides don't think a cop would realise unless you were sitting in the back seat(and in your case you prob could)

[Tangles]

Cheers for the advice. Thats a good idea about rebolting to the seat itself. Extra IQ points to you MrAnderson! If not thru Willshere who else? ta for your thoughts.............

With legality, more worried about an accident where the seat 'possibly' goes thru the front window (lol). Questions would then be asked - how was the seat bolted in? Id reply (from my grave) "I used Mechano/lego nuts and bolts"

Yeah, more worried about insurance implications in case of an accident, couldnt care less about defect etc. I reckon itd almost be impossible to be defected for my seat if it was extended backwards as such.

[MrAnderson]

well i wouldnt worry too much about the seat flying away the idea of using the orignial rial and floor mounting points is that they are how the car was designed from factory and thus the safest... if you look at most seat rails the steel used for them is quite thin - it gets its strength from being moulded into a C shape or similair. if your not keen on takling it yourself your best bet would be to ring around some race car prep and engineering places - as opposed to auto trimmers... some may do it but you will prob find more willingness to help and less $ from a genuine engineering or car prep place..

heres the details for a place i know of (they usually work on euro stuff but i understand they do everything)

Start (Sirius Track And Road Technology) LLoyd Clonan

Specialising in Race Car preparation and development and project completion

Address: U3/14 Barndioota Road, Salisbury Plain, South Australia

Fax: +618 (or 08) 8283 4502

Phone: +618 (or 08) 8283 1970

Email: [email protected]

give em a ring - perhaps they can help or point you in the right direction

[Tangles]

if your not keen on takling it yourself your best bet would be to ring around some race car prep and engineering places - as opposed to auto trimmers... some may do it but you will prob find more willingness to help and less $ from a genuine engineering or car prep place..

Thanks Lucas, yeah sounds like thats probably the go. I guess I'll contact some engineering firms down south and see what can be done.

If I could kneel then Id take out the drivers seat and start measurements, etc, and go from there. As it is thats impossible for me, so I'll measure up my wifes seating position vs the very forward position, get the difference in length, and then go to an engineering firm and say "alter either the seat bolts or the seat rail by xcm"

Ta for your valuable input. Need some $$ now. LOL

Edited May 31, 2006 by Tangles

[MrAnderson]

no wuken furries good luck with it

[Tangles]

seeing 'Marvn' tomorrow so we'll see what we can work out.......

Fact is, I dont fit comfortably in the standard local fare (falcodores etc), so I need to safely modify one small section of the seat rail to suit me.

Id argue it in court if necessary (god forbid!) that whatever it is that I end up getting done to extend my drivers seat rail lenght is a completley safe modification, to suit me.

Edited June 2, 2006 by Tangles