First thing you have to do is remove the seat. The enthusiast's manual isn't terribly helpful on this point, except to point out that you more or less must use a 6 point socket, not a 12 to get the 14mm bolts out. They say something about the head being tapered, I think the problem is just that the bolts were torqued in at the factory to something like 90ft-lbs. Whatever the reason, if you do go ahead and use a 12 point socket, you'll likely round off the bolt heads, and still not get them out (BTDT).
When you get the seat out, you'll see why it's impossible to make a seat
frame that sits lower than the stock seats - the bottom is actually set
in-between the adjustment rails and actually scrapes the carpet. The only
way to get a lower seating position is to remove some foam. It has been
suggested on
that the seat might be bolted directly to the floor without the rails to get
a lower position, but I think this would simply result in eliminating the
suspension effect of the thin metal seat frame, gaining only about a half an
inch in exchange for a spine-jarring ride.
If you're going to do this job, you'll need a pair of needle nose pliers
and the patience to work with these hog rings. They're made of fairly
stout wire, require a bit of twisting to get off, and I think I had to remove
about 12 of them to get to the foam for cutting. Perfectionists should practice
attitude adjustment before approaching the hog rings, you can get them back on
securely with the pliers, but only 2 or 3 of the 12 will look like they did
before you took them off.
I only removed the hog rings from 3 sides of the seat-bottom, then I was able
to pull the seatcover back from the foam sufficiently to get at it for cutting.
I used a 9" fillet knife to cut into the seat foam, basically I was shooting to
slope down about 1" across the length of the knife, the cutting was fairly easy
after doing a "puncture" start. This left me with a few more inches of cut to
make at the back of the seat - it was awkward to get the knife in there, so I
reached in with my hand and pushed the foam apart with my fingers. This may
not work if your seats haven't been baked in the Florida heat for 8 years, in
which case, you should be able to get a knife in there. I did get too much foam
on one side, but it was no trouble at all to cut a chunk from the removed piece
and place it back in the seat frame.
So, how does it ride? Well, I can see out underneath my
rollbar much better now, and it is a bit easier
to see traffic lights under the windshield header too... nothing drastic, just
like I was maybe 5'11" instead of 6'1". Comfort wise, it feels like I've put
a 1" cushion under the front part of the seat - I do squish the seat a bit more
than I used to when the clutch pedal is depressed, but otherwise it's comfy.
I haven't gone on an extended trip yet, but for a 45 minute ride including lots
of bumpy road, the missing foam wasn't missed.
Update October 10, 2000:
Well, the foam has been out for what seems like a year now - and the only thing
strange about it is when I sit in the passenger seat, which still
has the stock foam, I wonder where all the headroom went. Long trips
are no problem, and in an autocross situation, the extra
side bolster is a great thing.
