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Wed Nov 16, 2005 11:45 am

I'm looking into purchasing a buggy (manx clone type) short pan.
My question is I'm 6'9" how much room do I have to move the seat back?
What else can I do beside cutting off my feet to fit in a short pan buggy?

A log body will not fit in my toy hauler.
Thanks

Wed Nov 16, 2005 12:05 pm

If the stock seat sliders are still in place you may be in trouble. You can probably cut them off and make some new seat mounts farther to the rear.Or you could just take the seats out all together and sit on the rear shelf.Just kidding.

Wed Nov 16, 2005 6:35 pm

baja5 wrote: If the stock seat sliders are still in place you may be in trouble. You can probably cut them off and make some new seat mounts farther to the rear.Or you could just take the seats out all together and sit on the rear shelf.Just kidding.

That maybe a good idea still.

Mon Nov 21, 2005 9:56 am

ffchadbo..I will be interested in what you do. I'm 6'5" and went with a std bug with a 3 in body lift. This works great for me. My son is also 6"9" and barely fits. I looked at Manx style cars but found that the bug worked better for my needs and type of riding. I also had the trailer problem....not as bad as you though. My bug just fits in a 7x14 enclosed trailer. Still trying to figure out how to get out without taking off the passenger door. Since I'm 60 I do not see myself climbing out the window. Good luck. Steve

Mon Nov 21, 2005 10:31 am

Get a bigger toy hauler...

But that might not be the cheapest solution... :lol:

Mon Nov 21, 2005 10:45 am

Stuffing a 6'9" frame into a short-wheelbase buggy sounds a bit tight, but these ideas might help make it work:

*relocate the seat rails as far back as possible
*body lift
*small-diameter steering wheel; it makes climbing in & out easier

Mon Nov 21, 2005 10:55 am

If you could rig up a tilt wheel, or even a removeable wheel would be even better. It would really help with the in/out.

Mon Nov 21, 2005 11:09 am

maybe ellobo can help answer this. he's not a very small person and he has a fiberglass tub

Mon Nov 21, 2005 1:10 pm

I let my brother in law drive my manx, he's 6'4. My seat is all the way back minus 2 inches for the roll bar. I noticed his knees hitting the wheel and other minor hinderances. When I get my 3 inch lift on it should help with most problems.

Tue Nov 22, 2005 7:54 am

Ours has the stock mounting rails on the pan and the VW round tube frame for the seat bottom was bolted to the bottom of Fiero seats.

You have 2 things to increase leg room - seat height as well as moving it back.

We figured out about how far back we wanted the seats to go. Flipped the seats over and ran 2 long pieces of 1" square steel stock front to back and drilled them the bolt to the seat bottom. We could now attach the round tube frame to whatever point we wanted. You could just tack weld, put it all together and try it - then once you are happy, weld it up, trim the tubing and paint.

What we got was an inch in added height and was able to get the seat back to where we wanted it. The added height meant we did not need to move as far back as we thought (we can still have the kids ride in the back (and we have a short pan)

Tue Nov 22, 2005 9:53 pm

I'm tall... in a short shriner buggy.

We converted our seats to Fiero... this moved the speakers in the head rest, lowered the height... and allows us to move them.

I've found the driving angle helps greatly.

T.

Wed Nov 23, 2005 4:23 pm

Thanks 4 all the info.
I still haven't found a buggy but at least I have some options
Thanks

Wed Nov 23, 2005 5:35 pm

I'm 6'2". I found while racing camaros that i am very comfortable with the seat close to the steering wheel as long as the seat bottom is tipped up to support my knees and low at the but for more room. I really like a seat this way and it seemed the best for me while racing, plus I end up with the seat adjusted closer to the steering wheel than my 5'2 wife!
This won't work for everybody but if you get in a car with a fancy power seat give it a try, you might like it.
Perry

Fri Nov 25, 2005 10:36 pm

I'm in the midst of seat selection for my shortened manx clone. While about 9" shorter than you, I have similar concerns. The problem with relocating stock seat rails to the rear in a shortened pan is that the dip in the rear of the pan for the rear seat footwell area is essentially moved forward, cramping the amount of relatively flat space you have to use stock seat rails. I have seen a number of shortened pans using flat aluminum or steel sheeting instead of the stock vw floorpans. This allows more F to R latitude for seat placement.

The best thing about your situation is that you don't already have a car that you have to alter to suit your frame....find one that fits, and buy that one.

Sat Nov 26, 2005 6:21 am

I am 6'0". I have PRP premier seats and they are mounted on the manx sliders that PRP makes. Then I cut those in half to lower the seat in the car.I am mounted all the way back against the rear seat. I had a couple of aluminum wedges made for under the rear of the rails to make up for the tilting pan.
It is fairly comfortable for me leg room wise but i am still too high in it. a lift kit would help but I don't like the look so i am going to be removing the sliders and bolting the seat straight to the floor. I still would be alot more comfortable in a long pan buggy i think. that may be an option you want to look into.