GTM Owner in Northern Virginia and 6'4"

[jrsweet]

Hello. I am interested in building a GTM but being 6'4", I am concerned whether I will fit in. Is there a GTM owner in Northern Virginia who would be kind enough to let me see if I can fit in the car, PM. Thanks, Jeff

[SingleMaltWSKY]

I'm also 6'4" and had a chance 2 years ago to visit Factory Five in Wareham MA. I can squeeze into a Cobra (no roof), the Daytona was super tight and barely drivable (hence all of our modification to the frame on our Type-65), the GTM was even smaller, I looked at the opening and the size of the seat and leg room and didn't even attempt it.

Now - I'm not sure if others have used different seats or had frame modifications to assist with tall people.

My 2 cents.

[Roger Reid]

Hello. I am interested in building a GTM but being 6'4", I am concerned whether I will fit in. Is there a GTM owner in Northern Virginia who would be kind enough to let me see if I can fit in the car, PM. Thanks, Jeff

At 6'4" you might have a problem if there are seat rail adjusters under the seat. If you try to fit into another builders car, be aware of how the seats are mounted. Although I am 6"0", I mounted my aluminum Kirky seats right to the floor pan and I have plenty of room for my helmet. I did cut and reweld my Kirky seats for more layback and shortened the thigh bolsters to fit the frame rail on the side (not hard). I can supply pics when you need it.

I also have a nephew who is 6'4" and he fit with an inch space over his head. It's all in how you mount the seats.

[RumRunner]

Hello. I am interested in building a GTM but being 6'4", I am concerned whether I will fit in. Is there a GTM owner in Northern Virginia who would be kind enough to let me see if I can fit in the car, PM. Thanks, Jeff

Jeff,

You're welcome to come try mine out. I'm a fair bit shorter, but we can pull the seat out completely if need be and you can try fitting without any seat whatsoever, then figure out if there is another seat option that would fit. I'm in Clarksville MD. 301-6 five 1-9 four four 6.

-Michael

[jrsweet]

Thanks everyone for your replies. A bit discouraged but wont give up.. I would love to build a car. Will try to see if I can fit and modifications if necessary.

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

I would agree with Roger's post above. I'm 6'2" and am very comfortable in the car....it's all in how you mount the seat. At 6'4, I think you might need to look into a different seat like Roger mentioned so that you can milk out every bit of extra room you can.

[rev2xs]

I would agree with Roger's post above. I'm 6'2" and am very comfortable in the car....it's all in how you mount the seat. At 6'4, I think you might need to look into a different seat like Roger mentioned so that you can milk out every bit of extra room you can.

Or something like a Gurney Bubble of the ol' GT40 era..

[crash]

Or something like a Gurney Bubble of the ol' GT40 era..

That what we did on the PDG race GTM. I'm 6'3" and I believe one of my co drivers is 6' 4". We raised the roof about 2" because even sitting in a seat that was on the floor our helmets were hitting the roof. All good now.

[jrsweet]

Even with the Gurney bubble, is it safe in a rollover? Do you mind sending a photo? Thanks

[Roger Reid]

Jeff
Here are pics of my modified Kirky seat. I cut the seat on the red lines on both sides for layback. I cut some sheet aluminum the same thickness to fill in the gaps and rewelded. I cut off the side shoulder bolsters. I also cut off the outboard thigh bolsters to match the frame rail. This is important for getting in and out. The aluminum edging can be cut loose and refitted. These seats are bolted directly to the pan using round head allen head bolts from the bottom side. Your upholstery guy can make the seat covers any way you want.

If you go with the Tillet seats, don't get the carbon fiber. Cutting carbon fiber for layback is impossible to match the mat fibers and make it look good.

[beeman]

Wow, Roger, those covers look really nice! I have the same Kirkeys in my roadster (unmodified) bolted directly to the floor /frame as well (I'm 6'3") and love the support, you sit "in" them. But Roger's look MUCH nicer! I will say that passengers over about 200 lbs feel tight in them in the hips.

[crash]

Even with the Gurney bubble, is it safe in a rollover? Do you mind sending a photo? Thanks

The other thing that was done was to put new roof bars in that went up with the raised roof so that it was/is much safer in the event of a rollover. You can see In the two pictures that we also moved the driver to the center and made it a single seater for safety and fuel tank reasons. The fuel tanks are the aluminum panels that you see in what would normally be the door areas. This is like the early Ford GT-40 layout.