Raising drivers seat on 1998 Supersport

[Norman]

Hi all -

I'm about to pick up my first Caterham next week - 1998 K-series S3 SuperSport.

It has a lowered floor - I’m 5’7” and the low seat meant the door popper mounted on the inside of the wheel arch was digging into my shoulder. It also meant an awkward position of my left arm over the gear stick and a fairly limited view over the bonnet...  (I'd rather not remove the lowered floor as aware it's a lot of hassle) 

It has adjustable leathers, and guessing it's an imperial chassis. 

Can someone confirm that this part is what I need in order to raise the seat? 

https://caterhamparts.co.uk/fittings/4492-seat-spacer-box-section-imperial-chassis-only.html 

There are another couple of box section items on the website, with one of them mysteriously double the price of the rest, so not too keen on that one! 

thanks - I'm sure this will be my first of many rookie questions on here!

Chris 

[Wrightpayne]

Chris,

That part is usually for a passenger tillet seat which ends up being fixed. I dont think caterham sell anything for raising the height of S type seats.

I’d be inclined to get two bits of 1” steel box section, or a bit bigger, and some longer M8 bolts and make some spacers up yourself.

Ian

 

[Norman]

Thanks for the suggestion Ian, I'll look into it. I did wonder how much mark-up caterham placed on those bits of steel box section! 

Once I've collected the car next week I'll have to see how long each section needs to be, and where to put the holes. First project! 

[elie boone]

A piece of alloy tube 20 x 20 x 1 M will probably do the job from B&Q 

[Golf Juliet Tango]

I’d be inclined to get two bits of 1” steel box section, or a bit bigger, and some longer M8 bolts and make some spacers up yourself.

Aluminum rather than steel?

[gulf 1]

What about making spacers from wood as a mock up,a la Morgan

[Jim 123]

The lowered floor sits about 50mm below standard.  What amount of height do you think you will want to raise the seat cushion by?

[Wrightpayne]

Jim,

thats a really good point - the seat swab rests on the ally floor. Packing the runners only wont affect the seat base.

I think a square piece of 3/4 ply between the runners, with additional 2”x1” under the ply if needed.

Ian

[SM25T]

I thought the lowered floor was 38-40mm ?

[Jim 123]

Chris, you could possibly find that once you get a few miles under the wheels of your new car the niggles are not as major as you currently suspect. 

Ian's point about making sure that any raising of the seat includes support for the cushion base is in my opinion very relevant, particularly as you don't want the cushion to submarine if you come to an unplanned sudden stop.  Depending on how high you would want to raise the seat, I'd be careful about the design of any significantly raised runner support if this introduces substantially longer fixing bolts.  Versus the current design; with longer caphead bolts their heads, nuts, and their mountings will be subject to a bit more tensile stress under high vehicle retardation.  However this can be catered for in your design to avoid fixings pulling through etc.

Not a long term solution, but to get you motoring, have  you looked at Googling "adult car booster cushions?"