I was wondering if anyone knew the contents of the interior bulkhead behind the seats.
my first assumption would be the fuel tank hangs inside there.
I would love it if somewhere there was a cut away view of the interior spaces.
thanks in advance for your answers.

 

Like this ? There are two levels to the bulkhead and a "floor" that divides the upper from the lower. The upper level is empty and non-structural. The gas tank is in the lower level.

In my case I just cut away behind the driver's seat (LHD). Since I recline the seat a lot, all of the interference was at the top. When cut away I could get the seat 2" further back which was enough.

 

excellent reply!
just what I was looking for.
im considering a custom stereo install and insetting the amps in the bulkhead.
very enlightening.
Thank you.

 

Was probably cost savings. The rear bulkhead served as support for the motorized tonneau cover in the 320SLK and a place to mount the chromed styling bars behind the headrests.

These serve no purpose in a coupe but there was no reason to invest on special tooling when one size could fit all.

Also Chrysler used thicker seats than the SLK. No idea why.

 

Is there a thread on where this was done?

 

Was 2, the first was https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum/interior/64694-raising-seat-free.html and the second https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum/interior/66289-seat-too-narrow.html

Think I just described the final cutout was really pretty ugly becore recovering it. Cutout was 18"L x 4"H x 3"W and left the rear wall of the box intact.

It took the combination of the two: raising the seat so that the contact point of the seat/bulkhead was further down (this also compensated for the Crossie not having a tilt wheel, and curtting away the bulkhead so the reclined seat could move further back provided a comfortable position for me.

Keep in mind that I have been known to run over 1,000 miles in a day and 300-400 is common. When I was a yout I found that carrying the weight of my back on my shoulders with a reclined seat eliminated back pain so have been modifying seats for a long time, this was just the most radical.

Was more recently that I found that too narrow a seat caused hip pain so this is not the first I've modified and knew what was needed immediately. Any good upholstery shop could do the same, is just a matter of shaving the sides and raising the middle.

Now the only thing left is that the trans is not really a six speed, it is a five speed with a granny low and I drive it that way - first is just for malls and heavy traffic. 6th is the only overdrive and not nearly tall enough (needs to drop another 500 rpm at 70 mph - I suspect 30 mpg on the road would be likely then)

What I have never understood about this is that I am not particularly tall, 5'10" and 29" inseam, but like to be able to stretch my arms and legs out when driving.

And while I have had A Lot of cars, mostly small, ranging from an 850R FIAT an MGA to several Fieros. This was the first time I could not get the seat back far enough.