Floorpan "lowering" for roll bar clearance

This winter the Alfa is going under the knife and getting new rockers as well as a completed interior and some other stuff. I really want to track the thing; but at 6'3" there is no way I'll be able to fit a legal roll bar that the convertible top can close over unless I get creative with seat installation. I'm not going to cut up the freshly reupholstered seats for a drop, and I can't get a whole lot there anyways...how plausible would it be to drop the floor a few inches? There's already going to be a lot of cutting and welding going on. Is this frowned upon by HPDE techs or anything else I should know about? I can't really justify it as a second car if I can't take it out on track...but I have to at least be able to put the top up. Suggestions?

How about a different seat to use for track days?

+1 on the different seat, I run some Bride bucket seats in the Meotter for HPDE and take the cushion out to get more clearance. Works a treat and if I don't feel like wearing the car, I can always swap the originals back in.

You don't need a roll bar to HPDE.

get an aluminum race seat for the track days- you can bolt them pretty much right to the floor and gain 4-6" of headroom in most cars..

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: You don't need a roll bar to HPDE.

If the OP is doing SCCA HPDE and doesn't have a factory hardtop, he does.

BoxheadTim wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: You don't need a roll bar to HPDE.

If the OP is doing SCCA HPDE and doesn't have a factory hardtop, he does.

oops - missed the bit about it being a soft top.

Sorry - you do need one.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: You don't need a roll bar to HPDE.

As others have noted, sadly, I do.

I have considered going full racing buckets, but other comments on AlfaBB have suggested that it is not quite enough for a 6'1" driver (had to hammer the floor down) so at 6'3" I still have somewhere around 2" to catch up. Damn you, broomstick rule! The main thing is that I have a Spider Quadrifoglio which has unique-to-the-model Recaro knockoffs that are already pretty damn low. Also, with the resto-mod angle I'm taking with this thing, I would sooner blow a wad on a pair of FIA-cert Sparco buckets than an aluminum seat...I friggin hate aluminum seats. I know that doesn't help me one bit since the padding takes up space, but still...

You can always take out the cushion on a bucket seat to sit lower. That's what I do.

FYI, I have some general experience in this area because it seems that most Fisher Fury ( std 40 inch rollbar height ) owners tend to be much taller than average. Potential solutions include;

1. New racing Carbon fiber or fiberglass bucket seat and mounts that allow you to tilt the seat back from vertical. A well shaped seat like Tillett is very comfortable without padding. Tilting the entire seat backwards gains both head and leg room.

2. Custom A+B foam race seat. Safest and most comfortable but not much for looks.

3. Lower the seat floor area by using a suitable piece of steel. Keith, one of my customers, found that a Harbor Freight steel wheel dolly was almost a perfectly shaped solution. http://www.harborfreight.com/2-piece-vehicle-dollies-67511.html ** I'd suggest that the lowered floor section not be the lowest point of the car.

Chet

Take your stock seat out and sit on the bare floor. Do you pass the broomstick test that way? If you do, then put in an aluminum seat, bolted directly to the floor, and make it easily removable so you can bolt the stocker and tracks back in. I would find a way to run a couple of large bolts with washers through the seat bottom into the floor. You'll need appropriate washers and nuts under the floor. Also consider a seat back brace to the roll bar.It should only take a few minutes to do the conversion each track day. I can envision this install needing 4 bolts.
Depending on how far apart the stock track mounting points are you may be able to fab up side mount brackets that allow the aluminum seat to touch the floor and mount to the stock anchor points.

Definitely look at tilting whatever seat you use. It doesn't take much tilt to gain a lot of headroom.

As you are 6' 3" are you mostly leg or mostly torso? It might make a difference in how you can fit a seat directly to the floor without lowering the floor.

I cannot speak for every sanctioning body but if you showed up to a NASA-SE HPDE with a custom lowered floor to make your roll hoop work we wouldn't blink an eye letting you go on track with a proper roll hoop. After all, It's your butt on the line pun intended.

As long as the welding and fabrication are in an acceptable manner, I doubt anyone would even notice the floor pan was lowered. I would make sure the floor pan wasn't the lowest point on the car though. DO NOT bolt an aluminum seat to a sheet metal floor without some kind of serious reinforcement. If something ever did go wrong, even with washers, that sheet metal floor won't hold the seat in place. Some steel tubing welded in place and reinforced is the way to go. Look around on the internet and see how the pros do it for more ideas. http://www.butlerbuilt.net/measurement/Proper_Seat_Mounting-Stock_car.pdf