CrayZ Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 So this weekend i removed the terribly installed racing seats from my 280z. The previous owner was 5'5 and im 6'2 needless to say I didn't fit. I got the passenger seat installed to a good position very easily. The transmission tunnel is not rounded out on the passenger side like it is on the driver side. I am not able to mount the driver seat at a comfortable position and still have the door close. My question is this. Is the transmission tunnel bulged more on the driver side than the passenger from the factory? This problem might be that the previous owner hammered it out to fit the T56 in there but the fact that the trans tunnel is bulged a lot more on the driver side is forcing me to position the seat VERY close to the driver door and not allowing it to close properly. The only fix i can see is cutting out the driver side section of the trans tunnel and modifying it so that i can scoot the seat closer to the center of the car. Has anyone ran into this problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrayZ Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 (edited) Well i used the search button alittle more and found that this problem is common. With that said id like to see what you guys have come up with short of buying smaller seats. If anyone has any photos of changes they have made id love to see them. Edited March 5, 2013 by CrayZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billseph Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 280's have a bulge in the driver side of the trans. tunnel for a catalytic converter. Earlier S30 models don't have this bulge, so seat fitment is trickier In the 280. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrayZ Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 (edited) 280's have a bulge in the driver side of the trans. tunnel for a catalytic converter. Earlier S30 models don't have this bulge, so seat fitment is trickier In the 280. Yeah found that out the hard way this weekend. It's looking like ill have to either beat the snot out of the tunnel or cut it out and try to work something out. Im hoping someone can chime in with some similar experiences Edited March 5, 2013 by CrayZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big-phil Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 I'm 6'3" And had to cut out the seat rail things? mine are mounted to the flat floor so my head doesn't touch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 (edited) I have my driver's seat mounted but I don't have the doors on at the moment. My problem is that I sit high in the seat. There is maybe 1/2in of clearance from the top of my head the the roof. The seat is mounted in the stock mounts and I'm 6'0 tall. I'm not sure how to fix that other than cutting out the stock mount and have custom lower mounts installed. I have some ebay fake suede black seat with red stitching. Edited March 5, 2013 by Daz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrayZ Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 I also have my seats sitting on the floor. I have no rails or adjustments. The problem is there is no ability to move the seat towards the center of the car becuase of the trans hump. DAZ you might want to put a door on there and check the fitment. If you have one of those big ass seats like me your going to be in for a surprise. If I where you I'd take out the rails and just mount the seat where you want it. I gained at least 3-4" of headroom after mounting it on the floor and correctly positioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Cut out the hump and weld in a replacement panel. You also must reinforce the floor pan if you're removing the OEM seat mounts. Just drilling holes in the floor pan and bolting the seat mounts to the pan is unsafe. You have to spread the load out on the pan as the OEM seat mounts did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrayZ Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 Can I order a replacement panel from a 240? The earlier 240's didn't have the hump correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrayZ Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 (edited) If I cannot purchase a tunnel I was thinking about cutting out the hump and just extending the factory seat rails Edited March 5, 2013 by CrayZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dudeboy Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 (edited) Crayz, I am re-doing my seat location and mounting this week in my 77 280. First, I have Corbeau Forza seat and corbeau universal 2.5 inch sliders. I plan on cutting the front stock seat mount out weld in some metal to reinforce the floor and attach seats to floor. There is longer story behind my seat problems, but plan it out and measure before you cut. I am 6 ft. and have a roll-bar now, and my 1st plan of attack is remove the front stock mount. What model seats are they? Also, John pose another concern of mine, what route is safer to reinforce floor for bolting the seats ? Edited March 5, 2013 by Dudeboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLave Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Mounting seats is difficult in any application. Its always a compromise and lots of work. I am a fairly big buy and bought a set of OMP bigs (the model is actually called big). Guess what? They are big. Maybe too big. I have cut out the hump on my 260 and replaced a portion of it. I am a ways out from mounting the seats for real or I would share photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrayZ Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 I'm unsure of the what kind of seats they are. The car is at my uncles body shop so I think it will be fairly easy to get the work done but I was hoping for a straight forward approach. I dislike the idea of cutting out the hump but I don't see any other route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 All those who are cutting and modifying, could you please take pics and document ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvincent Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 If you haven't found it yet there is a thread for the 280Z swap list I started years ago Here: http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/88301-280z-seat-swap-list/page-2 on Post #40 Page 2 and #105 page 6 Padam07 has a good write up and some pics of cutting out the 280Z hump and welding in a new plate. Dudeboy and CrayZ please also post pictures in the 280Z swaet swap thread also on your progress. I have been trying to put everything concerning seats in the Humped 280Z in one place for everybody to find it easy for reference. Thanks, Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvincent Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 If you haven't found it yet in your search there is a 280Z seat swap list and there are some good pictures by Padam07 on his cutting out the 280Z Hump and welding in a new plate. Post #40 on page 2 and 104 on page 6 http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/88301-280z-seat-swap-list/page-2 I have been trying to track and get posted and document all seat swaps into the 280Z hump cars in this thread so all can use as a reference and maybe become a sticky some day. So if you could please post your write up and progress pics to this thread also. Thanks, Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 CrayZ-I've been following all of your threads. If you are serious about starting to road race, I recommend you cut out the hump in the tunnel AND, make new seat mounts that will put your butt as close to the floor as possible: remember, you gotta plan for helmet clearance and clearance between your head and the forward portions of your rollcage. My last rollcage thread brought out that helmet clearance from the rollcage is a problem even in the best-designed cages. You might consider going to aluminum road racing seats instead of the wide "sport seats" that are all the rage right now-a dedicated race seat can make a big difference in your road racing experience. Plus they should be pretty easy to shove into the limited space that we have in our z-cars. I'm going to aluminum seats when that rises higher on the priority/task list-its pretty far down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrayZ Posted March 8, 2013 Author Share Posted March 8, 2013 If you haven't found it yet there is a thread for the 280Z swap list I started years ago Here: http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/88301-280z-seat-swap-list/page-2 on Post #40 Page 2 and #105 page 6 Padam07 has a good write up and some pics of cutting out the 280Z hump and welding in a new plate. Dudeboy and CrayZ please also post pictures in the 280Z swaet swap thread also on your progress. I have been trying to put everything concerning seats in the Humped 280Z in one place for everybody to find it easy for reference. Thanks, Greg Will do, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrayZ Posted March 8, 2013 Author Share Posted March 8, 2013 CrayZ-I've been following all of your threads. If you are serious about starting to road race, I recommend you cut out the hump in the tunnel AND, make new seat mounts that will put your butt as close to the floor as possible: remember, you gotta plan for helmet clearance and clearance between your head and the forward portions of your rollcage. My last rollcage thread brought out that helmet clearance from the rollcage is a problem even in the best-designed cages. You might consider going to aluminum road racing seats instead of the wide "sport seats" that are all the rage right now-a dedicated race seat can make a big difference in your road racing experience. Plus they should be pretty easy to shove into the limited space that we have in our z-cars. I'm going to aluminum seats when that rises higher on the priority/task list-its pretty far down. I have mounted the seats basically to the floor. They are as low as they can possibly go. Once I get the seat centered I think ill be in good shape. There is a lot of room now. Thanks for the heads up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbrowndog Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 I have a set of Corbeau Forzas. These are going in a vintage road racing car and they are definitely too high with my rollbar and a helmet. I will need to cut out the existing OEM brackets to make them sit lower. Any issues or concerns structure wise? Likely not, but I thought I would ask. The floors in these cars is micro thin, so I will be putting in some flat plate to reinforce for sure. I will take some pics and post as I go along, as I am not seeing anything that others have done in a vintage road racer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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