Quote:
Originally Posted by Got the Bug
.... One of our local Bay Area Members is 6' 4" and he is currently building an FIA ERA ....
Good luck on the search.
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Well … that would be me
I have a lot of the same challenges you do and there are some tweaks and tradeoffs that can be made to get big guys to fit in a 90" wheelbase car. There are a lot of good ideas mentioned above, and search for 'tall guy builds' and you will find more info on this site as well.
In my case, I too wanted a 289 car and you are correct, that in proportion to the 427 cars for sale, there are not that many 289 cars available and there are also fewer choices of manufactures.
I did a lot of research as well and finally chose ERA, they are really great to work with.
The one well known drawback is, it can take a while to get your car, so you can't be in a hurry.
For my car,
- Modified dash so that the bottom edge will be a bit higher to allow for more knee room
- Adjustments to the pedal location.
- The roll bar will be slightly taller, but not noticeably different than a standard roll bar
- Smaller diameter steering wheel
- Seats … bolted to the floor, no adjustment
A lot of seats have a fair amount of 'layback' which shifts your rear end, closer to the front of the car, which then lowers your head relative to the windshield … but this also puts your knees up higher and into the dash.
By sitting more upright, with your rear end closer to the trunk, that will lower your knees and straighten out your legs, but will raise you head relative to the windshield and roll bar … you trade one thing for another!
So seats are something to really research.
For your budget, look at a used car and modify as needed, that will save a lot of money. Having the car built is not inexpensive, but if you do, you then can have things tweaked to fit your needs as best as possible.
Like the guys said above, the only way to really tell is to sit in as many cars as you can and talk to the owners and manufactures. There is a lot of wisdom to buying as much car as you can afford up front, then tweak it to fit. Rather than not spending a lot of money initially, but then having to really take the car apart to make it work.
Sounds like a great project and best of luck!