Blah Blah Blah, didn't want to further clutter the Rant thread.
I have an STR Miata, I'm interested in tracking it at some point.
To that end, I acquired an Ultrashield spec miata aluminum seat, with the plan to bolt it directly to the floor.
(Having quite a while ago chopped the rear humps)
Car is equipped with a Hard dog roll bar... safety third.
Anyway, even with the seat sitting directly on the floor, I don't pass the broomstick test.
If I move the seat forward and tip it back the helmet hits the roll bar and my knees start to knock against the steering wheel.
(FWIW, 6'3'', 30-31'' inseam... torso for daaaays)
My options as I see them, as far as heading towards track time:
A: Sell the SOB, buy something with a real roof, enjoy.
B: Chop out a chunk of floor, make a 'butt sump,' bolt seat into said depression.
C: Continue autocrossing, don't bother seeing track time
A isn't that terrible an idea, except that the autocross season is upon us and I'd rather not miss it. Plus I was kinda hoping to avoid taking the inevitable hit for selling a modified car for at least a while longer.
B is probably illegal? Not that an NA Miata is at all competitive in STR anyway.
C sucks because tracking a car seems like fun.
Anything obvious I'm missing?
Go see a professional about having a couple inches removed from your torso???
In reply to Nick_Comstock:
Already lost a spleen and had a couple of artificial discs installed in my neck, no more modifications for me.
Wow I'm 5'10" and have a 30-31" inseam and I always felt like I was short legged and longish torso. What about custom rollbar? Obvious it won't fit under tops but would work for good weather.
I'm pretty sure that the roll bar can be extended upward … call Hard Dog and see what they have to say … there are plenty of folk taller than you that race Miati
B. Don't drop it below the "frame rail" or rocker seam. You don't want to be the 1st thing to bottom out in an off.
One of my local autocrossers lowered the floor of his NA STS Miata. He's 6'4" at least. 
Funny, I didn't even think about asking him how he fits until last season. I imagine that it's not for the meek to do themselves. A shop would have to charge you a pretty penny to do it.
Then you have option D: trade someone straight up for a STX E36, RX-8, 300ZX, E46, WRX, S4, etc. so you can do both and fit in the car.
10 Internet Points for the term "butt sump". I'm going to try to work that into conversation this weekend.
We've got the "transformer" roll bar for the NC, which lets you bolt on a super-tall bar for track work and go to a shorter version for the street. We've been talking about doing the same for the NA/NB, let me see if I can get that kickstarted again.
which bar do you have? the hardcore/hardcore hardtop are different heights, with the normal hardcore being slightly higher.
Keith Tanner wrote:
10 Internet Points for the term "butt sump". I'm going to try to work that into conversation this weekend.
We've got the "transformer" roll bar for the NC, which lets you bolt on a super-tall bar for track work and go to a shorter version for the street. We've been talking about doing the same for the NA/NB, let me see if I can get that kickstarted again.
I've seen a 'transformer' roll bar in an NB that the owner said was custom built for him by Bethania Garage, so it is possible.
In reply to johndej:
I have the hardtop compatible Hardcore bar, as the car wears the hardtop almost year round.
Main problem with a transforming bar aside from hassle is the price...
I'm not convinced I like this car enough to spend anywhere near 1500 bucks on 'improving' it.
Welp, sounds like it's time to figure out how much this sumbitch is worth.
Turboeric wrote:
Keith Tanner wrote:
10 Internet Points for the term "butt sump". I'm going to try to work that into conversation this weekend.
We've got the "transformer" roll bar for the NC, which lets you bolt on a super-tall bar for track work and go to a shorter version for the street. We've been talking about doing the same for the NA/NB, let me see if I can get that kickstarted again.
I've seen a 'transformer' roll bar in an NB that the owner said was custom built for him by Bethania Garage, so it is possible.
Yup, that's a one-off that would be used for the template. Bethania Garage = Hard Dog, by the way.
I vote for A, then a transformer bar, and advise against a butt sump. If you went off track and took an impact to your butt sump, it would surely damage your back. Not worth the risk.
I vote trade for an E30/E36. Honestly if you can get 3-4k for it, you should be able to find a decent early 3 series, although E30 tax is really starting to get out of hand. I feel like I have to cram myself into most japanese cars, but it seems like BMW makes their cars a little more "tall guy friendly". Never had a problem fitting in my E30 nor my E36.
A 944/924S would probably also suit you (though the rare solid roof versions might work best) and they compete in the same run groups with the SpecMiatas and the prep is well documented online through the Spec944 efforts and the decades of racing the chassis has performed from its beginnings as a forlorn VW project.
In reply to Petrolburner:
Might be able to build a tubular butt sump guard that doesn't go any lower than the frame rail to take any impacts.
There was a guy who used to race Spec Miata that was 6'6", 280lbs. He beat the floorpan with a hammer to get the seat low enough to fit in the car with the hardtop on. Just put a 1/8" plate under the car if you're worried about stuff coming through.
I'm leaning towards keeping the floor somewhat intact, so as to not further demolish hypothetical resale value.
The hard part is figuring out what to replace it with.
E30/E36 have crossed my mind, though I'm open to most anything witha real roof and not driven via only the front tires.
