Seat and Tranny Tunnel Fit

[jmccrack]

I am installing my trans tunnel and bench seat. Of course one will not fit over the other. With the seat in position against the back of the cab (the 2x6 you see represents the back of the cab). The seat tunnel fits a good few inches above the tunnel. Before I cut and chop the tunnel to fit have you got any other suggestions? Also am I right in assuming the inside cab back touches the vertical part of the roll bar or when I get the cab on can I move the seat a bit further back? I am trying to position the seat for best comfort and most room. I have 1 1/2” under the back and the front sits on the floor. Do you have any other suggestions as to riser configuration for this truck.

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[wallace18]

1EC0DD00-0EFA-4DB4-8B23-5DDF5E2FDDBA_1_105_c.jpeg the look of your picture you have the seat too far forward. I would have the cab mounted before I do the tunnel and seat placement, IMO. See my photo.

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https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...Hot-Rod-Pickup

[Robodent]

I would agree with Wallace that having the cab in place would be best fit . The seat and hand brake are problematic on the trick build. I’m 6’1” it’s a tight fit that I had to get use to. I mounted my seat as far back as I could the early trucks had a horizontal bar in the roll bar that I cut out to gain a couple inches because my seat was hitting it. The horizontal bar was a great place to mount the 4 point harness so I installed 3 point seat belts in the vertical roll bar. I removed the seat a cut out a couple inches of the bottom frame and spreaded it out with a Porto power and re welded it to give me the space to fit over the tunnel. I went this route because I felt it was cleaner and easier than doing glass work. The e brake was problematic for us early truck builders and I skipped it all together and installed a electric e stop parking brake . The electric brake made for more room on the passenger side as well. If there’s one thing I could suggest is to check your quarter panels, the stainless that’s glued to them comes loose eventually some guys have taken them apart and re glued them. I did not and now that it’s all done and painted mine are coming loose on the top edge where it wraps around the top of the quarter.
Rob

[Pat Landymore]

I absolutely agree with Rob and Wallace18.

Had to cut my seat apart to remove some material, then stuck a jack in the middle to spread it several inches prior to re-welding the seat frame back together.

Please remember that I have both the ‘heat’ insulation kit and the ‘sound’ insulation kit...greatly adding to the width of the trans tunnel. That is where much of my fitment problem originated.

Ps. My truck is serial # ending in 0059 which has the newer two layer foam filled floor and different roll bar configuration.

[jmccrack]

hey guys thanks for the info great help. Can any one send me pics of the back of the seat interrelationship to the cab and the seat as it goes around the tunnel. also I measured from the the fire wall to the front of the seat 17" from the firewall to the front of the seat back 23" . Interesting in the 34 Ford I built its 18" and 24". And the 34 seems to have a lot more room. I like the idea of working on the seat not the tunnel. My set # is 136TR

[Robodent]

I broke my shoulder last week skiing and had surgery on it a couple days ago. I’m in no shape to be crawling around the rod at this point in time. From my experience I didn’t bolt my seat down in place till almost the very end. I had the cab on and positioned my seat as far back as I could to gat as much as I could out of it. The top of my seat back is actually touching the cab a bit. If you ever come across the Joey laggano build that snapon and ffr built take a good look at it and that truck has the Kirkie buckets in it. That truck was chopped in the rear of the cab just behind the striker to add another 3-4” of leg/seat room. If I knew what I know now I would have done that mod. If the cab is chopped and extended then you would need to cut the quarters down as well to compensate and keep the contour of them around the rear end. I think there’s is a build out there that’s doing this I think his handle is the Alaskan truck build. The Alaskan went to Sema and saw the laggono truck there. Rob

[Pat Landymore]

Hang on a minute Jim, I’ll take some quick photos. On my way out the door but I have time for that.
Apologies in advance if you need to rotate them!

[Pat Landymore]

Seat to back of cab:

DE392177-2CAF-43B1-A49C-EFF37DC23957.jpg

Top view of seat vs rear of trans tunnel:
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Drivers side with cushion flipped forward showing how much I cut out of the seat frame:
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[Pat Landymore]

Rob:
Sorry to learn about your shoulder...hope you’re healed up quickly!

[Robodent]

Thanks Pat, life happens could of been worse my ankle isn’t broken just sprained
Rob

[jmccrack]

hey Pat can I assume from picture 3 that the inside of the cab touches the back of the vertical roll bar? If so then my use of a 2x8 c clamped to the roll cage is a good rep of the cab being on. Hey guys I hate to ask but would it be possible for you to let me know the measurement from the foot box firewall to the front of the seat cushion and to the front of the seat back. Like I said before mine is 25" and 43". I sure yours must be the same. I am having a ball building this. I have done a 55 chevy truck and a 34 Ford. So this time I thought I would build a 'KIT" car. Let me tell you there is a lot more "fitting" in this one.

[jmccrack]

Pat I was going over your build log again. How high did you rise your seats and did you do it evenly?

[rponfick]

Do a search. A number of us have posted pictures of our solutions. I cut my tunnel at the back and made it narrower to fit under the seat divider.
Ralph

[Pat Landymore]

No Jim, the back of the cab does NOT touch the roll bar! Average clearance is approximately 0.900” on mine, which absolutely means it may not on yours.

If you think about if for a moment it makes sense as how else on the newer (and I’m guessing here...) trucks with a serial # of 040 or 050 and higher will the clamps for the shoulder harness be able to be installed. ???

As for my seat height...mine are a tad over 3” higher evenly than ‘stock’, if there ever was such a thing with an FFR build............

Don’t even ask me about how I mounted the risers to the truck...and my riser design gives me more options for mounting, not less! The manual shows the old frame, there is no way that works out with the new floor system. I used plates of flat steel and giant flat washers where I was unable to pick up a cross member of some type.

So long story short, you need to space your 2 x 8 back around 3/4” to allow for how the cab actually sits on the truck.

[jmccrack]

Hey Pat
Thanks for the info. You and all the guys have been a great help. That piece of info even gives me more room. Now I will see about the seat/tunnel fit. BY THE WAY if I want to search for seat and transmission tunnel. what is the search criteria I use. Tunnel:seat or what.

Cheers Jerry

[jmccrack]

Here is the problem I have. FFR just sent me a message to cut the seat supports.

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[bnelson]

Here is the problem I have. FFR just sent me a message to cut the seat supports.

IMG_1154.jpgIMG_1155.jpgIMG_1156.jpg

This was my solution.

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[jmccrack]

FFR suggested this to me. It took 5 mins and worked like a charm
IMG_1157.jpgIMG_1158.jpgIMG_1159.jpg

I stretched it out to 12" sprang back to 9" and it fits like glove. I will sound deaden under the tunnel under the seat and the rest will be on top of the tunnel.

[jmccrack]

Thats with 2" spacer under the back and 1 1/2" under the front. My 5'8" frame fits great. Very happy!!!!

[rponfick]

FFR suggested this to me. It took 5 mins and worked like a charm
IMG_1157.jpgIMG_1158.jpgIMG_1159.jpg

I stretched it out to 12" sprang back to 9" and it fits like glove. I will sound deaden under the tunnel under the seat and the rest will be on top of the tunnel.

Wonder why they didn't do that at the factory?
Ralph

[jmccrack]

good question

[jmccrack]

Hey guys just wondering. Has anyone ever cut the fiberglass tunnel on the drivers side up by the gas peddle to give a bit more room for the gas peddle and your foot.

[chuck35truck]

This was my solution.

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I did approximately the same, but my fiberglass work does not look that good. I also put Mercedes Benz trunk hinges in so I can lift the seat up and forward to get to my speakers and also where I have my remote connections if I need to jump my battery. I am sorry I don't have any good pictures.

[Pat Landymore]

I cut my trans tunnel in that area Jerry but not for gas pedal clearance...my build required more room around where the shift arm exits the Powerglide. That is because I set the big block and transmission further back in the truck than FFR intended for a small block.

There should be no reason you can’t take a slice out and patch it if you have room on the other side. You can run the clearance really tight as the engine will be torquing away from that area under load.

My solution for the gas pedal was a combination of soul searching for the ideal location, then I disassembled the pedal, put an ‘S’ bend in it and lastly took the sawzall ( my favourite tool! 😁 ) and sliced the inner side off the pedal. That gives me decent room now and the pedal is still of a good size.

[Robodent]

I cut mine in that area . I have the tko 600 in mine. I wanted more foot room by the pedal. I could only get so much out of it because the linkage is right behind in that area . Regardless it’s still a tight fit I don’t drive with work boots or hiking boots I found it best to drive with thin profile gym shoes . Rob.

[jmccrack]

thanks for the info . I will cut my Tunnel as well. Now for the brake peddle . Mine is quite high off the floor. has anyone ever lengthened there's or bought a longer one from wilwood? And what about putting a slight bend in the brake peddle to get it away from the gas peddle? Regs say the gas peddle should only be 1" lower than the brake peddle.

[bnelson]

When I changed my transmission to TKO it gave me a bunch more room. I cut the tunnel down the middle and took out almost 2". Had to extend the fiberglass lip that sits flush on the floor. Also made a bracket for the pedal that moved it forward a bit and extended it over the lip towards the tunnel. Gave me a bunch more room.


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[Pat Landymore]

thanks for the info . I will cut my Tunnel as well. Now for the brake peddle . Mine is quite high off the floor. has anyone ever lengthened there's or bought a longer one from wilwood? And what about putting a slight bend in the brake peddle to get it away from the gas peddle? Regs say the gas peddle should only be 1" lower than the brake peddle.

Not certain if I missed it in their catalog but I couldn’t find a longer pedal in Wilwoods catalog. A fellow on the forum under the name of Hawaii Hoonatruck came up with a unique solution to lowering the pedals, but dang its a lot of work to do what he did.

As for rules about gas pedal height....rules??
Haha...whatever 😁😁

[jmccrack]

Hey Pat

After all was said and done on yours is your brake peddle quite high of the floor?

[jmccrack]

Or should you have said "Rules...we do need no stinking rules"����

[jmccrack]

When I changed my transmission to TKO it gave me a bunch more room. I cut the tunnel down the middle and took out almost 2". Had to extend the fiberglass lip that sits flush on the floor. Also made a bracket for the pedal that moved it forward a bit and extended it over the lip towards the tunnel. Gave me a bunch more room.


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that sounds like what I may do.

[Pat Landymore]

Yes, my pedal is rather high up. That said my feet are size 13 so provided I don’t need to brake hard, I can leave my heel on the floor and reach the pedal. If I want it lower I’m just going to fab up my own pedal pad that sits lower...in the end it’s the same as a longer arm and a far more simple part to build.

[jmccrack]

Pat Good point. You are a great source of info. Thanks a lot. I think today I am going to split my tunnel right down the middle and , move it in closer to the tranny and on the drivers side cut in reliefs where the shifter runs. I am thinking once it is insulated and carpeted you will never be a able to tell. Thats the theory anyway.

[jmccrack]

Another thing is your tunnel sitting right on the the floor with the everything over top of the lip? Or is the lip of the tunnel sitting on top of insulation or carpet?

[Robodent]

I mounted my tunnel right to the floor pans . Then heat shield, sound deadening then carpet.

[Pat Landymore]

For the most part I installed the tunnel over bare floor with everything else on top. In some areas put it over top of the sound foam to act as a gasket where the fit between tunnel and truck wasn’t quite perfect.

[VIRGIN MIKE]

Floor.jpgSeat.jpg

propped up seat with wood blocks until it felt like I had the seat as comfortable as the space would allow; then fabricated brackets from ⅛ X 1½ aluminum angle (with several false starts along the way).

Had a sheet metal guy form the drive tunnel then snugged the (T600) tran housing up to it; gained inches of leg room

[jmccrack]

Thanks for that guys. Good discussion here,I learned a lot. So how many have riveted the tunnel or riv-nut it. Rivets are very easy to drill out so I am tempted to use them but at this point Riv-nuts are very easy to install. I am using a 700r4 tranny with a Lokar tail mount shifter. I found that my biggest problem was the shifter linkage hitting the tunnel. As you can see in on on the pics I carved out (with the best tool ever made my Dremel ) a slot for the linkage to run. This small mod allowed me to move bell housing part of the tunnel over more than an inch giving me more than enough room to mont the gas pedal. All I will do is epoxy a small 1/2 pipe over top of the linkage slot and hush mat over that and all should be cherry. I have to cut the front flanges on the tunnel to get them to match up with the firewall and it’s bottom slope. But that no big problem

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[jmccrack]

' Also 1 was wondering how high off the floor is your seat Sitting? Front and back. I have mine 1 1/2” in the front and 2 1/2 in the back. It puts the back of the seat slightly forward but moves the whole seat back an inch or so.

[RuffShod]

Check these out....

https://www.aces-racing.com/products...37553118576803

Not sure of the exact dimensions, but it has a roomy tunnel.