63 seat legroom

[petelempert]

Just installed newly re-upholsered seats in my 63. They look great, but suddenly I'm feeling much taller.  I guess I never noticed the lack of legroom while the old seats were slouchy. Now that my seats are firm, I'm feeling very close to the windshield even though the seat is fully adjusted backwards. I'm not some NBAer, rather I'm 5'11. I'm seriously considering customizing the tracks on the drivers seat to get a little more room. Over the years, I'm seen posts about various solutions. Anybody out there has success with this problem? Let me know. Thx PRL

 

[slosteve]

I had the same problem Pete. I turned the brackets that hold the front of the seat 180* and drilled a new hole in the rear slider rail to gain about an inch.

 

Steve

[VillaRiviera]

Pete,

I'm 6'-5" and I've had some experience moving seats back in my cars. I like both front seats to match, so here's what I did to gain 3" of leg room in my Riviera.

 

I bought a piece of 1/8" thick x 4" wide x 28" long piece of plain carbon steel at my local hardware store and cut it into 7-pieces each 4" x 4" long. 

 

Using the original front clips as a template, I drilled two 5/16" clearance holes 1/2" from the front edge on four of the pieces. Then using the first two holes as reference points, I clamped and welded the front clips 3" back (center hole to center hole) from the opposite edge. These four pieces are the front extensions. 

 

Next, I took two 4" x 4" plates and using the rear outer seat track section (the one with TWO holes) as a template and I drilled two 5/16" clearance holes 1/2" from one edge. Then, measuring 3" back drilled two more 5/16" clearance holes on the opposite edge and welded two 5/16"-18 nuts over the two rear holes. These two pieces are the rear-outer extensions.

 

Finally, take the last 4" x 4" piece and in half, so you have two 2" x 4" pieces. Using the rear seat inner track section (the part with ONE hole) as a template drill a 5/16" clearance hole 1/2" from the edge. Then, measuring 3" back drill another 5/16" clearance hole on the opposite edge and weld a 5/16"-18 nuts over the rear hole.  These will serve as the rear-inner extensions, you may need to cut a notch from one side so these pieces lay flat. 

 

Using the original (or new) seat bolts, bolt your new extension plates to the floor, then mount your seat on the extension plates and enjoy your Riviera with ample leg room. 

[petelempert]

This forum continues to impress me with the inventive things people come up with. Slosteve, I would never have thought of turning the front clamps around. I need to go out and look tonight at the slider rail, but how come you only need to re-drill holes in the rear slider but not in the front part too. What am I missing here? Doesn't the whole assembly move back about an inch if you reverse the clamps? VillaRiviera, did your process raise the seats much? Part of my new problem with overstuffed seats is that I'm fighting legroom and headroom. Let me know. Thx PRL
 

[RivNut]

The front "clamps" are not really clamps.  They're anchors which are bolted to the floor and the seat has "feet" on it that slide into the anchor.  When bolted to the floor the top of the anchor is slanted forward so it's not directly over the bolt hole.  By turning the anchor around, you slant it backwards instead of forwards.  The foot still slides under it but because of the new back angle, the seat is now back farther.  When in its original place, the rear of the seat frame has bolt holes in it which line up with the holes in the floor board.  Now that that entire frame sits farther back, the holes no longer line up so you need to drill new ones.  Be advised that in its original position, the rear bolt holes are not just holes in the floor board.  The threaded part is a heavier piece of metal that fits into one of the under floor braces.  You'll need to reinforce your floor boards where you drill the new holes.

[petelempert]

Ed-I follow that thinking, but the way I read it Slostev says drill a hole in the slider, not the floor. That's why I'm curious about only drilling the new holes in the back of the sliders. To me, the best solution is one that moves the whole seat back on the rails but keeps the holes in the floor the same. If you think about it in an exploded view; the seat bolts to the rails, the feet and rear mounting plates are riveted to the rails and then the feet and rear mounting plate slide/bolt to the floor. Really, the trick is to move the entire seat back on the tracks, but keep the same footprint. I get that reversing the position of the anchor gains an inch. I get that you need to drill a hole in the rear slider to accommodate the added inch. But as I recall, each slider rail has a fixed position for the front foot and rear mounting plate. If that's right, you'd need to drill into the front slider too. Maybe my memory is flawed. I could be wrong. I'll check it tonight. PRL

[petelempert]

I checked it out. Now I get it. No need to drill in the front part of the sliders because the "feet" stay fixed on the seat bottom but the anchor moves backward since it was reversed. In back, the holes must be drilled about an inch forward of the existing hole to adjust for the one inch push back. I'm thinking an extra inch could help. Most guys would probably agree. PRL