Hi, I’m 6’3," and I have to admit, after acquiring my long-time dream car, a Jaguar E-type Series 3, I’m a little disappointed with the headroom. Unfortunately, the top of my head bumps up against the roof, my eye sits on the top rail of the windshield, and the legroom is limited. I know this topic has been circulated several times before, and some Jag-lovers called for removing the lower seat rail, but adjustments become non-existent. As anyone ever modified the floor pan, or is there a seat that gives those precious 2-3 inches of headroom but looks period correct? Thanks
Some owners have taken the seat foam out of its leather and drilled vertical holes in it so that the weight of the driver causes it to sit lower. I think one person may have taken out the adjustable sliding seat rail too.
Dennis
69 OTS
On every S3 and particularly S1 and S2 2+2 cars we restore, invariably we get asked if something can be done with regards to the seat height. The solution we employ, is to modify the Seat Risers that the front seat attach to.The Seat Riser of the S3 is lower than the S1 and S2 2+2 cars, but the seat riser of the S3 OTS is lower still; accordingly, we make and use copies of the S3 OTS Seat Risers in the 2+2 cars.
I can take pictures tomorrow and Post them here if that method is of interest to you.
Brent
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Please post them Brent I’m interested to see what you do
Sounds like a plan, can’t wait to see it.
Thank you
Faus
Hi,
I have a S1.5 2+2 and am interested in this seat mod of yours. Do you sell these modified parts?
Interestingly, I came to the same conclusion, but the only problem is that I have the Series 3 OTS, which is the lowest riser.
Thank you for the info
That’s right and the seat mounting plane is only circa 10mm higher than that of the S1/S2 FHC and OTS, where the seat is secured directly to the floor. The following picture shows the relationship between the seat mounting plane of an S1/S2 2+2 (Top surface of the Seat Riser) and the S1/S2 OTS and FHC (Surface indicated by arrows); accordingly, you can only gain a small amount in height reduction by lowering the Top Surface of the S3 OTS Seat Riser down to the level shown in the following picture of the S1/S2 OTS and FHC mounting plane.
The following picture shows the height increase of an S1/S2 2+2 seat mounting plane over that of an S1/S2 OTS and FHC. In addition to the 50mm shown in the picture, there is a further 10mm height increase brought about by the seat securing device.
The following two pictures show a Seat Riser the same height as an S3 2+2 fitted to an S2 2+2, resulting in seat height reduction of circa 35mm. This doesn’t seem much, but the difference is quite noticeable in practical terms, particularly with regards to the clearance between the top of the seat cushion and the steering wheel. Normally, we would use the lower profile for the seat riser of the S3 OTS car, but the client only wanted to bring the height down to that of the S3 2+2.
Where a greater reduction than can be gained by using the S3 OTS Seat Riser profile, we have gained a lot more leg clearance with the steering wheel by cutting a layer of material off of the bottom of the seat cushion foam. Care must be taken to remove this layer in the form of a wedge shape, tapering from maximum material height at the front to practically nothing at the rear. If a parallel slab is removed, an ugly gap between the top surface of the seat cushion at the rear and the bottom edge of the back support component of the seat assembly will result.
Brent
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