Just noticed something...

[Paul_Heery]

I just noticed something about my car that I never really looked at closely on any other 914. In my car, the top of the headrest on the passenger's seat is about 1.5" higher than the driver's seat. Is this normal?

I looked over both seats closely and they appear to be sitting/aligned/attached the same on both sides. And, they both fit closely to the back pad.

If it's not normal, do you think the PO may have installed seats from different years? Is there a difference between years?

Here's a picture taken from over the windshield to give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

With the exception of the fixed seat in the 70-71 914, the basic structure of all of the 914 seats is identical. My guess is that the seats were adjusted differently but that it isn't easy to tell that.

--DD

[maf 914]

Paul, Are both seats at the same tilt angle? Are the front edges of the bottom cushions at the same height? Just wondering, since as you tilt the seat back, the seat back goes down and the front of the bottom cushion goes up.

Mike

[norustscott]

I too suspect the tilt angle is different. There is a left and a right seat. the head rest has a slight angle in the rear to mesh with the curve of the back pad. They shold be the same height though.

[Paul_Heery]

Tilt angle is the same. I thought about that too. I sat in both seats and adjusted the tilt angle forward all the way before taking the picture.

Both seats are also all the way back. (front-back seat adjustment)

[maf 914]

Okay, next guess. Could someone have added spacers of some sort below the passenger's seat to raise the seating level? This can be done between the seat shell and the bracket which the seat bolts to? Or could the driver's seat have been lowered? But, if you said the bottom cushion was at the same height then this will not be the case. Oh, well...

Speaking of seat adjustments, is there a convenient way to get the seat to move forward a few more inches? My girl friend (5' - 0") likes to drive but cannot comfortably reach the pedals with the seat in the closest position.

Thanks,
Mike

[3D914]

maf 914,

As far as adjusting the seat to accomodate short people. I did this on my first 914. Unfortunately that was over 15 years ago, and I don't recall the details - but I know I did it.

I may have reversed the rear seat attachment, so that the rear mounting hinge is pointing forward instead of back. This would have moved the seat forward a couple of inches, but also would have limited the ability to tilt the seat - which was fine with me.

I'll look into this more as I tear down the interior of my Signal Orange 74 and let you know what I come up with, if you don't figure something out by then.

Good luck,

[WOODPIE]

Paul,

My guess would be a "slightly out-of-spec" reupholstery job.

maf 914,

I was able to get the driver's seat more forward by about 1.25".
Pull the seat out, unbolt the rails, and drill two more holes in each rail forward of the two pairs of holes that are already there. Try to be accurate with the spacing. The forward-most holes will be very close to the front end of the rails. This was enough to allow my better half to almost fully depress the clutch pedal. Wish I could figure out a way to get another inch or so, and so does she, but that is a different matter.

Ed

[3D914]

WOODPIE,

There is another way to get an extra inch, but it means getting down into the pedals. I discovered this when rebuilding my pedal cluster. You'll notice that the clutch pedal threads into the arm that mounts to the pedal cluster. It also has a lock nut on it. If you get down far enough you may be able to loosen the locknut, then turn the clutch pedal arm CCW to extend it toward the driver. Just leave enough thread behind it to put on the lock nut, and viola! and extra inch or so.

Enjoy!

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

WOODPIE, in the Northern California area, this is known as the "Neidel Seat Rail Modification". Named after the Neidels, a local family who have been PCA's Family of the Year at least once, and who all have several things in common.

1) They all talk about a mile-a-minute. Constantly.
2) They all drive 914s really, really fast!!
3) Not a one of them over 5'5".

A friend of mine had Jim Pasha do the same mods to her 914 driver's seat so she could reach the pedals without putting a pillow behind her back. I can never remember exactly what was done--but your description reminded me.

--DD

[rockaria]

Speaking from a Tall Persons point of view... Maybe the PO of the car that is pictured above was tall and made a custom rail or whatever to the seat to make it lower so they would fit. I am 6' and my head brushes the roof. When I used to AutoX I had to slump down to fit the helmet in with me. If I decide to contine AutoX I may do the same thing to my car, Lower the drivers seat.

Just a thought!

[Paul_Heery]

I think Christopher may be on to something there. (Although the PO was about 5'8". Maybe the PPO was taller.)

I'll take a look at it when I get home tonight. I am over 6'2" and I have plenty of headroom. Even with a helmet on, I still have a little room.

[SummerSledSix]

Paul, your driver's seat looks lower than normal. If your PO lowered the seat for DE or whatever, chances are slim the adjusts are still there. Got any "H" shaped metal assemblies in that spare parts collection you got with the car?

[Paul_Heery]

OK guys, I just got in from the big city and had to go out to the garage to check things out.

First off -- yes, John I do have a couple of "H"-shaped metal assemblies in my spare parts collection. (for those of you following along at home, those are "seat frames") The thing is, I also have two seat frames installed in my car. The seats do adjust by moving back and forth. The seat tilt works fine on both seats.

Second, John is correct. My driver's seat has been lowered. If you take a look at the attached picture, you will see that I identified common reference points on the seats. The seats themselves are similar, just mounted at different heights.

[Paul_Heery]

Which brings us to our next picture. I moved the seats all the way forward and removed the carpeting from under and behind the seats. Besides being ugly as heck, I noticed something different on each side.

The picture below is from the passenger side. If you note the area that I've highlighted in the red box, you will see a metal strip that is attached to the floorboard and runs just further than the seat frame. On the passenger side, there is one of these strips underneath each rail on the seat frame. However, on the driver side, it looks like these metal strips have been carefully (professionally?) removed. The result is that the driver's seat is considerably lower that the passenger seat. To test it, I put the roof on and sat in the passenger's seat. My head was noticeably closer to the roof.