[DeTomaso] Dropped Pans
JDeRyke at aol.com
JDeRyke at aol.com
Mon Jul 5 13:48:55 EDT 2010
So if you don't install the rails on the seats, then how do you get the
seats bolted to the floor?
You measure carefully and drill 4 new holes to exactly match the threade
holes in the seat base, and eliminate the rails. The welded nuts in the floor
won't fit anything except stock adjustment rails. With most kits, you'll
likely need spacers in front, as a seat that sits perfectly horizontal is
uncomfortable to drive- you constantly feel like you're sliding under the dash.
15 years ago at a Nor-Cal Tech Session, I suggested to Roger Sharp that a
seat-pan 'kit' was a waste of money- if you don't need adjustment, all thats
really needed is to slice the stock pan on the sides and back, bend it down
at the front crossmember and use a sheet filler-piece around the edges. That
tends to give a little fore-&-aft taper to the new seat base, avoiding the
need for extra spacers. He promptly did this and the job was finished in a
few hours (drivers side only). Do NOT cut right at the edge of the console as
that makes welding in the 3-sided filler piece harder. Allow for some metal
overlap in the filler piece(s); butt-welding long pieces of thin sheet
metal is almost impossible due to heat-expansion/shrinkage. Some aftermarket
seats will be much more difficult to fit than others. I once fitted a nice
looking pair of Ferrari Boxer seats to a Pantera, and the bolsters were so wide,
stock seatbelt plates and retractors in the rockers wouldn't fit, and the
stock rake adjusters on the seats needed shaving in 3 places!
As for how much drop is possible, measure your car to be sure you don't
drop the floor so far that the seat pan becomes the lowest part of the car....
especially if you don't use seat rails. One encounter with 'normal' road
debris could have disasterous results to your sitter... I don't use (or need)
dropped pans since we have two quite different-sized drivers, but I've driven
a few with dropped pans several hundred miles, and if the seat base is
higher in front than in back and your legs happen to match up to the location,
they're at least as comfortable as stock. Good luck- J DeRyke
More information about the DeTomaso
mailing list