Question for Harrison owners
 

Hi guys,

I am very interested in a 2010 Harrison Cobra that is for sale. I have been and had a drive and it is amazing. The only problem is I am a smidge too tall. I was wondering if the pedal box in these can be moved at all. There is no room to put the seat any further back unfortunately this would be the easy option. Also I think it has a cable clutch as it is quite heavy. I noticed while looking on there website that they have either a cable or hydraulic clutch option. Does any one know how hard it is to change over. I figure it shouldn't be too hard I guess the only problem will be real estate to put the clutch master cylinder. I have tried contacting Harrison directly but the must be closed at the moment.

Any thought would be greatly appreciated.

Andrew

im sure leigh will be able to help you when he reads this apparently he did some changes to his Harrison that allowed taller people fit into quite well .
there are other Harrison owners here as well that will jump in soon I would imagine

cheers dean

In my opinion the conversion from cable to hydraulic clutch would be governed more by the engine/gearbox than the fact that it's a Harrison. It might be easier to swap over the clutch for something ligher, otherwise if it's a late-ish model Holden or Ford driveline you should find plenty of conversion options. What's it running?

Pedal box could also be swapped out but it might be easier to get new seats. What are the current seats, not MX-5 I hope? They waste a lot of space in a Harrison.

This IS good ^

The rest is NOT important, and can be easily resolved with money.

By the way, when you say "smidge"... how much do you mean exactly?

Andrew,

Cobra Kits: Home | Cobra Car Kits is now owned by Fabrication 81: Home | Fabrication 81
Try Fab 81's number and see if you can get through that way.

Andrew

A couple of things to look at. As Sambo mentioned, the seats would be the first option for increasing cockpit space. I have MX5 seats and need them because I am not 6'2". But most seats from production vehicles could be changed out to improve space.

As far as the pedal box goes, it could be moved a little but there will be some issues with pushing the brake booster and MC too far forward. There's not much room to do this without cutting the inner guard, which is not a big deal. If you do want to go down this path, check to see if the floor on that side has been glued as well as riveted in. If it can be removed, it would be much easier to get access to the pedal box.

There have been a few cars (Harrison's and others) where the floor has been dropped fo fit larger feet and it will also lower your knees. You could also look to drop the seat a little.

Just some thoughts

Geof

Hi Dimis,

By a smidge I reckon about 1 to 2 inch tops not much at all.

Andrew

1 or 2 inches. Meh... Nothing a small some of cash can't fix.

My first fix would be thinner soled shoes. :p

No seriously, Like I said earlier, the problems you've listed are not deal breaking if it were me, and i was happy with the rest of the car.
They are all seemingly easy enough to resolve issues.

Good luck with your cobra purchase :)

Easy to solve. I gained nearly 100mm on those two pedals and 140 on the accelerator

My Harrison had the xf (for memory) brake and clutch pedal set up. There are a few mods to do. Take the assembly out, get new shims from rare spares to tighten it up a bit. There should be two bolts through the firewall, and two under dash. Where the firewall mount is, you can could cut about 20mm off the end and weld in another mount. I didn't do this, I just straightened it up nice and square, welded up the seams and this gained about 10mm.

I used 50mm flat bar as a brace across the top of the assembly picking up all fixed locations, welded in and this eliminated the flex in the pedal arms. The arms have a forward protruding section that the pedal pads were mounted to ( think like a hockey stick). Cut these off and gain 50mm. I then used the AC pedals from finishline, drilled and mounted these the the arms.

Now..... These were now at an awkward angle on my feet to use so I cut a 'v' shape out the back of he pedal arm, bent the pedal to close the gap and welded and braced. The cut a bigger v in the front, bent to close the gap, braced and welded. This then both corrected the angle for the pedal pad and also gained another 40mm.

The accelerator pedal was easy with some creative bending, cutting and welding of the pedal arm into the correct position. Also changed the cable mount to be a little bearing rod end for smooth operation and also used Teflon shims on the pivot so there was zero play in the arm. Also, make sure the pedal heights are all set right. My car originally had the brake and accelerator level with each other and the clutch even more forward.

Finished result was brake and clutch were level and acceperator was about 50mm further set in. No flex on any of the arms, no play in the bushings, heel and toe were perfect, and transition from depressed brake to accelerator was natural.

Sure, sounds long winded, but once the assembly is out, these are easy mods. The overall difference was great, both in the solid feeling and extra 100mm of foot room. I am 6"1' with size 12 and was comfy in a NON extended harrison.

See ....... Easy.

there ya go now go and buy that car :-) I knew Leroy would be on the ball

Thanks leroy for the detailed reply that is some really good info. That's definitely given me a lot of hope will have to go back and have another look at the car I think just a pity this weekend is already booked up. BTW thanks to all the other who have also replied.

Any more thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Andrew

Lee(Leroy17), you should write a bible on making the cars more comfortable. :)

Looking at seat thickness is a good suggestion as it can give you gains everywhere - seating height, clearance to dash and steering wheel, distance to steering wheel, distance to gearshifter.

It is a little more aggressive, but you can gain space by also modifying the rear wheel arch in the rear bulkhead wall and also wall around where Skyline cradle connects to chassis. You can get the seat back so that the base of seat will virtually go all the way back to the cradle frame. Big gains there as well.

Legroom
 

Andrew,

I have a Harrison of about the same vintage as the one you are looking at.
I am 6'2". The only mod i have is the 50mm dropped floor pan which makes everything much better. Without the dropped floor pan my knees hit the dash.

regards

Mick

Hi agree Leroy should write a Bible lol. The only hard part is getting out of the car because once your in you don't want to get out because it was so comfy. if you're not comfortable your car you won't enjoy the car. That's what sealed the deal when I bought Leroy's car.

What seats?
 

Cockpit space is an issue for me too in my Harrison, and I'm only 5'8".

I've got similar seats to the MX5 ones, they're out of a Honda Beat. I wouldn't say that they've been re-trimmed with lots of padding. The main issue is depth I spose. That cradle mount and seat belt reel gobble up a lot of space at the back of the seat preventing it from being positioned right against the cockpit wall.

As Craig suggests, just moving the pedal box solves only part of the problem, I'm too close to the steering wheel for my liking so getting the seat back is better.

Trying to avoid the full repositioning of the cradle mounts what do you you guys suggest for seats for aftermarket fitting that will give more space?

I spun my seat belt reels 180* and boxed them in under the car. Gives about 60mm extra to push the seat back. The cut away that Craig mentioned will give a bit more in this area as well.

Andrew, as Dimis said, if you like the car, don't let the lack of space put you off. I know someone who removed the seat from their car to drive it home before attending to the space issue. Sat on the floor with a cushion I believe. Where there's a will ....

Geof

Short steering wheel boss kits exist for the mitsubishi columns (I used one). This would place the steering wheel closer to the dash by about 45mm for memory over the momo one that I had.

When space is a premium, all little measurements add up to a notable difference.

My seat belt reels were moved onto a bracket above and behind the rear firewall. I had new seat frames made that are about to go to the trimmer. I'm a smidge over 6" and I'll have the seats one click forward on adjustable slides. Standard XF pedal box as well.

Ok thanks

Lee, my steering wheel is pretty close, my knuckles almost hit the dash...

Geof, I'll look into getting that belt reel out behind the rear cockpit wall.

Sambo, so does the belt come out high, like a parcel shelf horizontal installation?

I've had bloody seatbelt dramas with the Dax as well, it comes all set up for racing harnesses which are compliant in the UK. No need for retracting belts over there.