Tall guy seat recommendations please

[wareaglescott]

1979 SC sunroof car currently has stock seats.
I am 6'3" 195lbs
As I sit in the car now I have to lean the seat back for head clearance from the roof. I am not particularly comfortable in the seats. I am not concerned with originality as my build plan deviates from that. To make matters more complicated I live in a rural area with minimal car scene and really don't have much access to go try out many different seats.

Looking for some recommendations from tall guys on what seats they have used that have worked good for them and look good in the car?

One of my other cars has a racing type seat that I describe as sitting more down and in vs how I currently sit on top of the stock seat. That gives me more head and leg room. I am also open to attaching the seat directly to the floor as opposed to on the sliders and having it in a fixed position.

Any input is appreciated.
Thanks

[msmall215]

For SC's, you can't go wrong with the Recaro Pole Positions. Very comfortable for long drives and they offer the ability to adjust height/tiltback, etc.

I have a set in my car and had the inserts redone in corduroy to echo the old Recaro race seats of the 60s and 70s.

IMG_1189 by Michael Small, on Flickr

[wareaglescott]

Originally Posted by msmall215

For SC's, you can't go wrong with the Recaro Pole Positions. Very comfortable for long drives and they offer the ability to adjust height/tiltback, etc.

I have a set in my car and had the inserts redone in corduroy to echo the old Recaro race seats of the 60s and 70s.

IMG_1189 by Michael Small, on Flickr

Thanks Mike.
How tall are you? Can you use the standard seat beat with these or do they require a harness?
I don't have a problem going to harnesses if need be.

[msmall215]

Originally Posted by wareaglescott

Thanks Mike.
How tall are you? Can you use the standard seat beat with these or do they require a harness?
I don't have a problem going to harnesses if need be.

You can use the stock seatbelts. I'm 5'9 but have the seat at the highest level on the mounting brackets and still have a solid 6-7 inches of clearance. If you set the seat on a lower mounting point, I think you would be fine. I'm sure others will chime in, but I've read about guys over 6 feet easily making these work.

[wareaglescott]

Cool thanks Mike

[Driven97]

I have a Corbeau FX1. I bought the med size as I'm a 36"-38" waist, I have room to spare, probably could have gone with the narrower FX1 Pro. At first I bought the Corbeau slider, as the seat has bottom mount capability, but it was way too high.

I bought side mounts and removed the sliders, the bottom of the seat shell is practically sitting on the unibody where the OE sliders would bolt. Cannot get it any lower without permanent modifications to the car. Seat and position is comfy on the street, I've done 5 hour trips without noticing the seat. When wearing a helmet, I remove the velcroed in bottom cushions to give myself an extra inch of headroom, which makes a shocking amount of difference. Overall I've been happy with the solution for me, but the lack of sliders makes it difficult for some others to drive my car.

To get any lower, I think you'd need a narrower seat where the base can drop beneath the rails, or have more of a U shape to the seat base sides. Or maybe a low profile seat with a suspension type base would help you get lower, I don't know.

For note, I'm 6' and my car has a sunroof. In the OE seat I had to recline and slouch to fit with a helmet. With this setup I can sit properly at a comfortable recline angle.

[stevepatfred]

Has anyone tried the Sparco R100? I like the look of them and the seat recliner is a plus for me! 6'6" here with a sunroof coupe...i'm more leg than anything else so just need a few inches...as an actor said to a bishop.

[SkiVT]

Advice from another thread, that I tried with success (6'2" here): pull your seat out of the car and turn it over. Remove the little clips that connect each of the springs running under the seat foam. This lets the springs sag more than when they are all connected. I feel it gave me about an inch extra headroom in my 83 sunroof coupe. This may help until you get seats you like better.

[Malaz]

If you ever think you might want to use harnesses, the Pole Positions will likely be too short for you. I’m also 6’3 and the harness holes are at my shoulder blades on those.

I’ve used Recaro SPGs and Sparco Evo IIs. Both fit me well and work well with harnesses. I have sliders under the Recaro in my 964 and just barely clear the roof with a helmet on.

[Dmitry at Pelican Parts]

There is also this product: https://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/shopcart/MISC/POR_MISC_EXSEAT-detail.htm

Let us know if you have any questions.

[wareaglescott]

Thanks for the input Driven97. That is a lot of great info to consider.

SkiVT that is some good short term advice! Thanks

Malaz excellent piece of info. I likely will order a seat without sitting in it so that very well may have saved me some trouble.

Thanks for the link Dimtry. I am thinking that would just result in an uncomfortable reach to the wheel. I do ok with leg room.

[75 911s]

Hey I love these threads! I'm about 6'6" 240lbs with a 40 waist.

I couldn't even fit in the car at first. Mainly because my right knee could not fit between first and the steering wheel.

The first thing I did was install a 3" spacer on the steering wheel. That way you can lean the seat waaaay back to clear the roof with your head and still comfortably reach the wheel in a proper position. This also allowed my knee to sit up between the dash and the wheel. I also installed a smaller wheel (350mm) and that gave me another inch there.

The only drawback to that is now it's impossible to reach fifth without leaning forward again. So I installed a 3" extension on the shifter.

Then I found some custom made sports seats that another tall forum member had made and bought them. The driver's seat has an extended seat cushion, deeper butt pocket and taller tombstone back.

Finally I deleted my sunroof. Drastic, I know, but I love it. I don't have the headliner in yet, but I'm sure it will net me about 3" of headroom. So now I may not have to use the extension anymore on the shifter.

Also, I used to dunk on scrubs all the time, the air up here is amazing, I see fine at concerts and I can reach all the fruit on the higher limbs, so after total nuclear apocalypse, all yall short people will naturally die out leaving me and my Giraffe kin to roam the planet.

[SCadaddle]

I'm 6'-4" 260 lbs. , pretty much the same size I was in college almost 40 years ago when I daily drove a Fiat X 1/9 as a Gucci Loafer.....

The factory seat in my 82SC is just fine by me.

[wareaglescott]

Originally Posted by SCadaddle

I'm 6'-4" 260 lbs. , pretty much the same size I was in college almost 40 years ago when I daily drove a Fiat X 1/9 as a Gucci Loafer.....

The factory seat in my 82SC is just fine by me.

Congrats to you. Doesn't really help me much though. Not sure the point of this post. lol

[75 911s]

He suffered in the name of originality. That's against my personal design philosophy. The human is the most important element of the design. Cars and transportation in general seems to be centered around a 5'5 woman and a 5'8 man. Don't get me started on buses and airplanes.

[Cory M]

If you aren't opposed to modifying the chassis, you can gain a lot of room by cutting off the stock seat mounts and welding in some custom lowered mounts between the sill and the tunnel. Just be careful not to damage the fuel lines in the tunnel. You can also gain about an inch by ditching the sliders, but other people may not be able to drive your car.

[3rd_gear_Ted]

Originally Posted by Cory M

If you aren't opposed to modifying the chassis, you can gain a lot of room by cutting off the stock seat mounts and welding in some custom lowered mounts between the sill and the tunnel. Just be careful not to damage the fuel lines in the tunnel. You can also gain about an inch by ditching the sliders, but other people may not be able to drive your car.

Been there, done that, drilling out the seat rail mounting led to me drilling right through a fuel line
The comedy scene to get my fuel tank drained should of been on video.

[wareaglescott]

Originally Posted by Cory M

If you aren't opposed to modifying the chassis, you can gain a lot of room by cutting off the stock seat mounts and welding in some custom lowered mounts between the sill and the tunnel. Just be careful not to damage the fuel lines in the tunnel. You can also gain about an inch by ditching the sliders, but other people may not be able to drive your car.

Thanks Cory. I don't need much more room to the point of chassis modification. I am good with a seat mounted to the floor in a fixed location as I don't really care for others to drive my cars anyways. haha
My main priority is a more comfortable seat that fits me better so looking for specific seat advice for seats that tall guys have had success with. I left it out of the original post but I have previously broke my back and sitting at the proper angle of recline and proper lumbar support is pretty critical to my comfort. Even if the seat has a fixed back but I can mount in on a recline and add my own lumbar modifications that will suit me well. I have some Kirkey seats in my Cobra that fit me perfectly but I am not sure how those would look in the 911 so trying to explore other options.