6'5" frame will not fit in a 64 | Ford Thunderbird forum club group 1955-2005 models
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6'5" frame will not fit in a 64

  • Thread starter Thread starter stevetheweave1
  • Start date Start date
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stevetheweave1

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Thunderbird Year
1964
Need help getting in the car that I have put so much work into. I somehow need to move seat down and back. Seat fits me great if it is off the base sitting directly on floor and touching rear seat. I could mount it permanent but then my girlfriend ugh I mean wife who is 5'4" could not drive it. Don't care if I have to do away with electric seat and go manual adjust. Been staring at the problem almost as long as I did to put a duel master cylinder in. lol Bottom of seat frame is not flat it has curvature to it which makes modding difficult. Does any tall driver have any recommendations other than trade it for a convertible?

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A convertible has more headroom since the headliner and gap up to the roof are eliminated.
- Reducing the thickness of the seat could gain some at the cost of some comfort
- You may have to cut out some of the seat frame and re-weld similar to what people would do to lower a roof but on a much smaller scale.
 
Need help getting in the car that I have put so much work into. I somehow need to move seat down and back. Seat fits me great if it is off the base sitting directly on floor and touching rear seat. I could mount it permanent but then my girlfriend ugh I mean wife who is 5'4" could not drive it. Don't care if I have to do away with electric seat and go manual adjust. Been staring at the problem almost as long as I did to put a duel master cylinder in. lol Bottom of seat frame is not flat it has curvature to it which makes modding difficult. Does any tall driver have any recommendations other than trade it for a convertible?
I’m 5’8”. I immediately took my electric seat out and replaced it with manual. If I at 5’8” felt like it was too close, I can’t imagine how hard it will be to accommodate your frame at 6’5”.
If you go to the manual seat it buys you 2 inches or so. If you modify the seat frame as the other poster suggested, you might find another 2”.
 
That was the way they were built. People were much smaller then. Even the Corvette interiors were tight even the European sport cars were tight. The dilemma is to give you enough room but be able for for wife to reach the pedals.
 
I am 6 ft. and had same issue..I driiled 4 new holes in floor and moved seat back. Some people weld track to a piece of steel so not have to drill holes in floor but that brings height up which is not as much an issue with me but still didnt want that. I have it that the seat still sits on the floor platform and hangs off the back of it. So 2 new holes in platform and 2 new holes in floor..The seat is about 3 inches away from back seat. That is good enough for me but dont know if it will be enough for you..Also the back 2 bolts a put a piece of electrical conduit around bolt to act as a sleeve for the bolt so when tightening bolt it does not squeeze seat down. Hope I am making sense. I also plugged up old holes with some plastic caps..Good luck..
 
I mean wife who is 5'4" could not drive it.
Sounds like a bonus to me :d

I will say, if you drill new holes I'd suggest reinforcing the areas with a plate. Nothing super thick, just enough to spread out any tension that may occur from shear forces on the seat frame. Another option is to custom fab a manual seat frame if you know a welder. I'm only 6' and while leg room is fine, I can barely swing the steering wheel over my lap and may soon consider fabbing a frame of my own so I can sit lower. (unless there's a way to raise the wheel)
 
Need help getting in the car that I have put so much work into. I somehow need to move seat down and back. Seat fits me great if it is off the base sitting directly on floor and touching rear seat. I could mount it permanent but then my girlfriend ugh I mean wife who is 5'4" could not drive it. Don't care if I have to do away with electric seat and go manual adjust. Been staring at the problem almost as long as I did to put a duel master cylinder in. lol Bottom of seat frame is not flat it has curvature to it which makes modding difficult. Does any tall driver have any recommendations other than trade it for a convertible?
I’m 6-2 and have a ‘64 convertible. I removed the drivers seat, took 2 pieces of 1 1/2” angle iron Approx 6” longer than the distance between mounting holes. (Of course the 6” extra length is to the rear). Then mounted the seat as far back on angles as it would go. (Drilling mounting holes). You will have to use nuts on the long bolts through the floor, and get bolts to mount seat to angle. When complete, you will have 6 more inches of legroom.
 
Made some progress today on being able to sit in the car and drive it. Cut two lengths 24 inches long of 1 1/2 by 2 1/2 channel.Bought a Sparco black seat track manufacture part number 00493 and it bolted directly to bottom of the seat. The track mount holes lined up perfectly to the metal channel rails I installed. The back of the front seat now touches the backseat and I can’t stretch my legs straight out and have plenty of headroom. Now that I can drive car all I have to do is install the motor the transmission and the dual master cylinder. It’s Showboat time.0ED80964-9DE2-415C-9DD0-875AA4576C09.jpeg0ED80964-9DE2-415C-9DD0-875AA4576C09.jpeg0ED80964-9DE2-415C-9DD0-875AA4576C09.jpeg
 
You may hit your head on headliner now that you are raising the track that much..Also are you just using one bolt on each track? I would drill a hole through floor and put a bolt towards the rear too..Good luck..
 
Just finished the seat mod and I am overjoyed with the results. The seat is actually lower than factory and I have plenty of headroom.I will keep an eye on the two floor mount bolts through the frame for any signs of cracking but I believe it will be fine.I really do not want to put any bolts at back end of track yet because it would interfere with the person riding in back when a shorter a person is driving. The only other thing I would like to have is recline seat back on driver seat.
 

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Looks good..In your other pics I did not see the front bolt thought you only had one bolt per side and now see you have two..You will have a much more comfortable ride now...Good job!!!
 
Maybe switch seats,maybe silly but then you can recline. I did see somewhere that someone in a 64 or 65 Tbird found another recline seat installed. Not factory having 2 recliners but looked comfy..
 
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