Lowered floor, Prescription Goggles et al.

[ottocycle]

Hello all,

 

I have not posted in a while though I check in from time to time. I wanted to go to NJMP this year but we were in the UK at the time. Hopefully next year. About a month ago I had my first l long blat in my 2004 SV. I took a 5 hour RT trip to take a ride in a WW2 Mitchell B-25 bomber. It was a hot day and it drew my attention to a few issues I need to address before next season.

 

Issue 1.

I would like to lower the drivers side floor, I'm 6'3". I looked on the Caterham site to find out about lowering the floor but could only find the "kit" they sell with no dimensions. I contacted the company for further details but have yet get a reply. Rather than modify the seat squab I would like to lower the floor 2"+, if I can (I have a bad back). How low can I go and does anyone have any experience of doing this? Does the floor drop just at the seat area or taper from the footwell to the seat area? Upon getting the car the first thing I did was build a steel sump guard that saved my motor more than a few times on our crappy east coast roads. I'm wondering if I need to "armor a lowered floor or if an aluminum unit will suffice.

 

Issue 2:

Eye protection. I normally wear prescription driving glasses but above a certain speed my eyes water from the venturi effect of moving air. I have found a few companies on the web that do prescription goggles but I would like to get first hand experience feedback. Any suggestions?

 

Issue 3:

I normally drive bare headed or wear a wool monkey hat in cold weather. As i loose more hair I'm getting sunburnt in places that have neverseen the sun before! Any suggestions for lightweight head gear?

 

Thanks in advance for your feedback/help. I'm sure it will help others too.

[xcarguy]

. . . lightweight head gear . . .

 

Try a dew rag.

[Croc]

Issue 1.

I would like to lower the drivers side floor, I'm 6'3". I looked on the Caterham site to find out about lowering the floor but could only find the "kit" they sell with no dimensions. I contacted the company for further details but have yet get a reply. Rather than modify the seat squab I would like to lower the floor 2"+, if I can (I have a bad back). How low can I go and does anyone have any experience of doing this? Does the floor drop just at the seat area or taper from the footwell to the seat area? Upon getting the car the first thing I did was build a steel sump guard that saved my motor more than a few times on our crappy east coast roads. I'm wondering if I need to "armor a lowered floor or if an aluminum unit will suffice.

 

 

Hi Dermot

 

Good to hear from you! Hope all is well?

 

The kit just fits an SV or CSR - no dimensions needed. There is also an S3 kit that is narrower. I have the lowered floor fitted on my CSR - love it. It lowers both sides - driver and passenger about 1.5 inches from recollection. Two separate "pans" so you can lower just one. It does taper down from footwell to seat base. I never bottomed out on the floor as I bottom out the rear suspension on its stops first. The lowest point of the floor is just in front of the rear wheels. My concern was engine like yours.

 

If you google "Caterham lowered floor" and look at the images options you will see various installations and can click through to the various websites underlying for owner commentary.

 

If that does not provide enough height lowering then take the seat off its movable track and bolt to floor directly. That takes out another inch in height. 2.5 inches lower should be enough to fix the problem.

 

 

 

Issue 2:

Eye protection. I normally wear prescription driving glasses but above a certain speed my eyes water from the venturi effect of moving air. I have found a few companies on the web that do prescription goggles but I would like to get first hand experience feedback. Any suggestions?

 

I have the exact same issue. I went 2 ways and used both:

 

1) safety goggles over my prescription glasses

 

https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-22179/Safety-Glasses/Uline-Cruze-Safety-Goggles?pricode=WB6729&gadtype=pla&id=S-22179&gclid=Cj0KCQjwrrXtBRCKARIsAMbU6bG7YAUpKJntaqas3gHwzSfzgsXDQOnNmosEthPqQrUVfGWgA-4fhkIaAohaEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

 

https://www.sportrx.com/oakley-l-frame-mx-goggle.html?child_product=01-631&gclid=Cj0KCQjwrrXtBRCKARIsAMbU6bGa5btbgZklLA5-Nnjcg3pvG0TtydrbeXHqO8AuaAM2GRJmiHIEIiUaAvJAEALw_wcB

 

 

These work fine but the shape occaisonally gave vertigo in regular goggle variety eg the ULine ones. The Oakley ones were great.

 

 

2) prescription inserts in safety goggles

 

https://www.sportrx.com/bobster-dzl.html?child_product=BDZL001&gclid=Cj0KCQjwrrXtBRCKARIsAMbU6bE2UB3RKkg1wS0Q8KJnlUUOltK1U4w93bAC_IQ5jr1Dm40b-2vkFlUaAqa1EALw_wcB

 

Option 2 was much better. No visual distortion and fit was much better. This was my preferred option.

 

 

 

 

Sorry I cannot help you with option 3 as I am losing hair elsewhere - legs, chest, etc. Saves my usual waxing I suppose? :rofl:

[Dave W]

I have a pair of safety goggles and use prescription glasses, but prefer to use safety slip-on side shields. The side shields do not restrict your vision as much as the goggles, and still give you protection across the top, side, and bottom. Plus they will slip in your shirt pocket when not in use. If looking for the side shields, you want the soft, not hard, plastic shields. Dave W

[panamericano]

For road driving you can easily get prescription safety glasses. They cut out the breeze and debris and are more impact resistant than glasses.

[powderbrake]

I always wore "over the glasses" motorcycle goggles, available at any dirt bike shop. I kept an extra pair for the passenger.

 

I was getting bald also, so I wore a welder's cap, the kind without the bill. It is like a skull cap.

 

[wemtd]

for my head i have a 3mm rope to my Birkin ball cap.

I like the sun glare reduction of the bill, and rope helps retrieval if the wind pulls it off.

[JohnCh]

I've always worn baseball hats with infinitely adjustable size adjusters (either velcro or sliding buckle) that allow me to tightly cinch down the hats. The bill stops the glare and seems to minimize draft behind my eyeglasses, which I attribute to blocking airflow out of the top and upper sides of the glasses. In ~40k miles of driving, I've yet to lose a hat, although I do have very large wind deflectors which reduce turbulence compared to running without side curtains.

 

-John

[powderbrake]

for my head i have a 3mm rope to my Birkin ball cap.

I like the sun glare reduction of the bill, and rope helps retrieval if the wind pulls it off.

 

I had the same problem with the cap flying off, so I went to the "over the glasses" motorcycle goggles. I added a couple lines of black tape across the top of the goggles, and that blocks the sun and sky glare. Particularly useful when you are blatting through a narrow road with tree cover, and the sun glare is hitting you intermittently.

 

While it appears that it might block the view, the goggles ride high on the face, and your normal view of the road and vehicles ahead are not impaired. Besides it is foolproof eye protection for you and your passenger from all those small rocks which enter the cabin.

 

[panamericano]

I added a couple lines of black tape across the top of the goggles, and that blocks the sun and sky glare. Particularly useful when you are blatting through a narrow road with tree cover, and the sun glare is hitting you intermittently.

 

 

http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=16083&stc=1 So it's not just your Dan Gurney imitation?

[ottocycle]

Thanks guys for your input. I appreciate all your feedback.

Mike, its encouraging that I can gain 2.5" by removing the seat rails. My worry was going too low so that my butt "bottoms" out. I have never bottomed the rear but needed info on how much I could safely drop the seat to improve the seating. The idea os sitting in rather than on the car is appealing.

Jerry, John, Wemtd, Pamamericano and Dave: Thanks for your advice on hats and glasses. You have given me something to work with. I tried normal baseball hats and they have blown off. I found a site that sells hats that are designed for guys with big heads so I will try them first. I like the idea of the shade provided by the bill, failing that a dewrag or a welders cap is in my future. I will look into prescription skiing or motocross goggles. I looked into them before but thought they looked too bulky, but I will give them another shot.

Keep the ideas comming.

Thanks again,

Dermot.

[Croc]

Mike, its encouraging that I can gain 2.5" by removing the seat rails.

 

 

To clarify - you get 1.5 inches thereabouts from installing lowered floors and then another inch or so from removing the seat slider mechanism and bolting the seat to the floor directly.

 

 

My worry was going too low so that my butt "bottoms" out.

 

I think you will hit the rear bump stops first.

 

 

I have never bottomed the rear

 

Neither have I. I leave that stuff for the ladies.

[powderbrake]

So it's not just your Dan Gurney imitation?

 

No..... I could not imitate Dan Gurney in any way. Closest I could get is that we both have driven a car.

[xcarguy]

I have done my best Dan Gurney imitation...McMaster-Carr Gurney flaps on my wings. If I could only get the driving portion down.

[Croc]

If I could only get the driving portion down.

 

Down? Are you airborne again?

[xcarguy]

Down? Are you airborne again?

 

It came from watching too much Disney as a kid. :jester:

[kayentaskier]

Dermot,

If the lowered floors and removing the seat rails doesn’t get you low enough, you can try a bead or foam in place seat. I am 6’4” and recently ordered an SV with lowered floors and leather seats, this got me low enough. However, in my 2 previous S3s, I removed the driver’s seat completely and built a foam in place seat bottom, this effectively had my butt about an inch above the floor. The seat bottom was very comfortable, the seat back was just a 1” piece of foam, covered to match the seat bottom. For me the extra benefit of the custom seat bottom was I could create much more thigh support by extending the length past the chassis support bar.

Jim