Atom Owners that are height challenged

**Lowtush** · April 7, 2015, 07:32 AM

I'm 5'6" and have issues reaching the clutch pedal with out slouching. While slouching works the tinted bubble screen makes visibility a pain in the ass.

Has anyone come up with a solution?

**bolus** · April 7, 2015, 07:37 AM

way back brammo made pedal extensions. Your might want to call TMI and see if they have any of these left over.

Which car do you have? In the Atom 2 the individual seat option (recaro or sparco seats) are significantly better for us shorter drivers.

**Lowtush** · April 7, 2015, 07:54 AM

Originally Posted by bolus

way back brammo made pedal extensions. Your might want to call TMI and see if they have any of these left over.

Which car do you have? In the Atom 2 the individual seat option (recaro or sparco seats) are significantly better for us shorter drivers.

I have an AA2 with the individual recaros. Any pics of the extensions?

**bolus** · April 7, 2015, 08:37 AM

I tried to find an old pic from 2006-2007 on the other forum and did not find it. It was a machined pedal pad that was 1-2 inches thick and bolted right to the pedal on the tiltons. Check with TMI if they are familiar with it.

You can also get extra thick padding for the recaro's made so that you are moved forward a few inches

**bolus** · April 7, 2015, 08:41 AM

Other thoughts. do you have the tilton pedal box moved all the way towards you (there are a few bolt holes where it is attached to the frame so it can be moved forward and back)
I assume you have the recaro's moved all the way forward?

**silver** · April 7, 2015, 09:53 AM

Originally Posted by bolus

Other thoughts. do you have the tilton pedal box moved all the way towards you (there are a few bolt holes where it is attached to the frame so it can be moved forward and back)
I assume you have the recaro's moved all the way forward?

came to say this....I believe there's quite a bit of room for adjustment, hopefully that's your solution

**Lane** · April 7, 2015, 11:44 AM

I'm a bit over 5'7". First, move the seat forward as far as it goes. This puts you as close to the steering wheel as possible and prevents the super-awkward driving position of having both elbows straight and arms fully outstretched when your hands are on the steering wheel. I took this a step further and fabricated a steering wheel spacer out of some scrap metal to move the wheel closer to me. I find it much less fatiguing for my arms on long street drives, and it also provides better leverage & control on a twisty track.

Do a google image search on 'steering wheel spacer' and it will help you find the right one with the correct number of holes by looking at photos. Prices seem pretty reasonable. They'e available and it beats having to make one.

Nice part about having that seat far forward is that it frees up a significant amount of storage space behind it. I put clothing in several backpacks, about half-full each, and stuff them back there for long trips. Folded car cover fits back there as well.

Next, move the pedals as close to you as you need to in order to have a comfortable seating position, and to be able to fully depress the clutch pedal. The pedal box assembly and the rails it mounts to have several holes already there for this purpose. If you want to, you can also move the engagement/disengagement point of the clutch pedal closer to the top of the pedal travel quite easily. I had to do this adjustment due to a replacement clutch I installed not feeling quite right for engagement point.

Despite the much better seating position I ended up with, I found myself still having to look through the lower part of the tinted bubble windscreens. It made night driving almost impossible. I ended up buying the dash from TMI that had no windscreens and I fabricated my own from clear flat lexan. Before and after pics:

More pics of fabrication are on my site here.

With these changes, my seating position and visibility are now perfect. Does TMI sell the dash/windscreen option these days with the small pyramid/trapezoid shaped lexan panels? If so, I'd highly suggest going with those.

**Atommatt** · April 7, 2015, 02:59 PM

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I raised my seat up 1 1/2 " in the back so that I could sit high enough. To see over the dash

You should be able to twist the rod going into the master cylinder out, to push the pedal forward also.

**McFred** · April 8, 2015, 11:09 AM

Calscot (Pete) use that bagged, expanding foam to make a seat insert moulded precisely to his body. A booster chair, really.

I don't recall him needing pedal extensions. Between the pedal set adjustability, the master cylinder pushrod adjustment and the seat adjustment you should be able to account for nearly a foot of leg length.

Also, I don't have the bubbles, but I hear they're not as useful as the 'gun sights' at deflecting the wind. SO you might just remove the bubbles and retrofit the gun sights instead. It'd be easier to see through at your current seat height.