wider driver's seat available in an SPF?

crASH · #1 (**permalink**) 03-19-2011, 03:03 PM

I have heard of, but not yet seen, the "big" seats for SPFs. Do they look the same as the traditional SPF low-back seat? The only Superformance seat I have been in was just too narrow for me, and I'm only a 40" waist

.

The side "bolsters" that curve around from the lower half of the the seat back and connect to the seat bottom constrain my caboose. Probably great for racin', but not so much for cruisin'.

1985 CCX · #2 (**permalink**) 03-19-2011, 03:07 PM

I would try SAI for their 6000 series seats. They are bigger for the full sized American.

Seriously they are larger, not cheap however neither is your SPF.

Got the Bug · #3 (**permalink**) 03-19-2011, 04:25 PM

I've never heard of a larger seat for an SPF as an option. When people talk about the big man option, they are usually talking about removing the rails and bolting the seat to the floor as far back as it will go.

I didn't have a problem with the seat, but I had the rails removed to accommodate my height.

crASH · #4 (**permalink**) 03-19-2011, 04:41 PM

I did a search of the forum before I posted and found lots of discussion on removing the rails and bolting directly to car, but I also saw one particular post that made reference to "big man" seats in an SPF, or something like that. It's an older post. It made definite reference to the seat, and not the seat mounting.

I'm headed over to Olthoff's Racing this Friday and I'll ask them about it. I'm 6'3" and didn't have trouble with legroom in the one SPF I've been in so far. At 220lb I'm not THAT heavy, but my hindquarters are apparently dimensionally challenged for the SPF seat.

WildBill1965 · #5 (**permalink**) 03-26-2011, 08:01 PM

If it can be done Dennis can make it work for you!

Wildbill

crASH · #6 (**permalink**) 03-26-2011, 08:12 PM

Wildbill- I was there yesterday and I left with the same conclusion.

crASH · #7 (**permalink**) 03-26-2011, 08:42 PM

I also learned from Dennis that over the years there have been about three different seats in the SPF, and each is a little different from the next. The ones I rode in Saturday weren't as tight a fit as the one I sat in in Raleigh last year either. He says the can take the cover off the seat and spread the metal frame of the "bolsters" if they need to to.

SPF1061 · #8 (**permalink**) 03-26-2011, 09:11 PM

Youve taken your problem to the right place for a solution. Dennis is the master of custom mods for anything Superformance. If he can't do it, it can't be done.

VintageUpgrades · #9 (**permalink**) 03-26-2011, 10:10 PM

It takes a bit of work, but can be done with a stock SPF seat. Remove the bottom cushion, then the cover for the back. Pull the foam carefully from the back. Use a port-a-power and widen the sides no more than 2.5". Any more and they will not fit in the car. You will notice that the seatback has moved forward due to the stretching. Cut the side bars and add 1-1.5" of tubing and tig back together. Upon putting the cover back on, you will have to add some padding to the inner sides to fill the gap in the bottom cushion. Add a set of Olthoff's seat spacers and enjoy.

crASH · #10 (**permalink**) 03-27-2011, 05:55 AM

Mitch- Excellent point about the change in the angle of the seat back. Didn't think about that.

It's a good thing my wife isn't on this forum. She'd say, "Why don't you just loose about 15 lbs!?"

...Maybe that IS the simplest solution.

jetsbaby · #11 (**permalink**) 03-27-2011, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crASH

Mitch- Excellent point about the change in the angle of the seat back. Didn't think about that.

It's a good thing my wife isn't on this forum. She'd say, "Why don't you just loose about 15 lbs!?"

...Maybe that IS the simplest solution.

For the same price for the seat you can buy a nice gym membership..

crASH · #12 (**permalink**) 03-27-2011, 03:59 PM

I tight fitting roadster seat might be the best motivator yet to keep my hands off the pizza.

PANAVIA · #13 (**permalink**) 03-30-2011, 01:43 AM

Here is what we did on 2734'

Seat Cushions de-foamed by about 50%

Seat frames widened and tilted with a hydraulic bottle jack and some work.

Seat tracks removed and seat bolted to floor in rear, and a 1" aluminum spacer inserted under the front bolt tabs between the tabs and the frame, tilting the seat back a bit.

this , combined with the proper footwear makes 6'3" 290lb me -fit in a SPF.

--Steve

Silverback51 · #14 (**permalink**) 03-31-2011, 06:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crASH

I did a search of the forum before I posted and found lots of discussion on removing the rails and bolting directly to car, but I also saw one particular post that made reference to "big man" seats in an SPF, or something like that. It's an older post. It made definite reference to the seat, and not the seat mounting.

I'm headed over to Olthoff's Racing this Friday and I'll ask them about it. I'm 6'3" and didn't have trouble with legroom in the one SPF I've been in so far. At 220lb I'm not THAT heavy, but my hindquarters are apparently dimensionally challenged for the SPF seat.

This is interesting.

I'm 5' 8" and weigh 250lb. I don't have any problems at all with the seat and I have traveled 400+ miles in a single day.

crASH · #15 (**permalink**) 03-31-2011, 07:50 AM

John- Dennis Olthoff and I discussed this at his shop last week and he said that there have been several different seats that SPF has used over their history. He said that one of them was even very tight for him, and he's a tall, but slender guy. Perhaps it was a seat like that that I sat in last year that caused my concern and my recent query. The other customer car I rode in last week at Olthoff's wasn't uncomfortable.

I think most guys my age carry their extra "luggage" out front, but others of us carry it in the "caboose", which can make for tight squeeze in some seats

crASH · #16 (**permalink**) 03-31-2011, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PANAVIA

Here is what we did on 2734'

Seat Cushions de-foamed by about 50%

Seat frames widened and tilted with a hydraulic bottle jack and some work.

Seat tracks removed and seat bolted to floor in rear, and a 1" aluminum spacer inserted under the front bolt tabs between the tabs and the frame, tilting the seat back a bit.

this , combined with the proper footwear makes 6'3" 290lb me -fit in a SPF.

--Steve

Outstanding suggestion. I think moving the seat back and bolting to the floor would definitely be in order due to height. Then if I diet about three weeks at wife's behest I should be good to go, unless I buy a used SPF with a seat like Dennis described. More drastic alterations may become necessary, like grease the seat with Crisco and drive naked!