Well, this weekend I finally fitted the MX-5 (also known as Miata or Eunos depending where you live) seats that I was given for Christmas.
I used the method suggested on Paul Tegler's website (www.teglerizer.com), slightly modified. Overall I think it is an improvement, but there are always plus and minus points. On the plus side - The seats are much more comfortable (but with the metal frame poking through my old seats ANYTHING would have been more comfortable - There is much better lateral support, on the base and particularly on the back, good when going through corners in a spirited fashion (particularly right corners, when you haven't got the door to brace against) - The bases are longer, so there is support for more of the thigh. - The seats look really good in there - not just because the old ones were severly torn and stained. Black seats in an all-black interior, they don't look out of place, and in face I think the all-black looks better than the black-and-white houndstooth. On the minus side - The seats don't mount so low, as they don't take advantage of the recess in the centre of the floor-pan that allows the stock seat bases to be actually lower than the runners. The base is also thicker. This means that I am sitting a little higher in the car, so I feel slightly more like I am sitting 'on' the car rather than 'in' it (although I'm still more 'in' it than most other cars I've sat in) - Being 6'3" this means that I am now really peering through the top few inches of the windscreen. Also, where before I didn't contact the hood at all when it was up, I can now feel the hood against my head some of the time. How things will be with the hard-top I'll have to find out come autumn-time. - The seat-back is thicker. I had to have the original seats as far back as they could go, so with the MX-5 seats at the full-back position I am slightly further forward in the car. Operating the pedals is still fine, but getting in and out is just that little bit more awkward. - The extra thickness of the back, and the extra length of the base, means that there is only maybe 6" travel between the fully-back position and the point where the seat won't slide forward any further because of the floor stiffening rib. Since I have the seat all the way back, and no-one else drives my car, this is not an issue for me. Overall this is definitely an improvement, and I am glad I did it. If I had known before how much it would rob me of what little space I have, I would have thought a lot harder about re-building the original seats, although I have been put off by reports of new foams not being nearly stiff enough. For those who are 6' or under I would not hesitate to recommend the swap, but for anyone over 6' I would probably suggest you are better off re-building the original seats. I more or less followed Paul Tegler's instructions, which were essentially to use the mouting feet from the new seats, hammered flat, and with a bit cut off the rear inside foot to clear the transmission tunnel. Paul said that you could use the front mounting holes exactly as they were - oddly, I could do this on the drivers side, but the passenger side was about 1" out, so I drilled a new hole in the floor. Paul also suggested drilling new holes in the feet at the rear to match the existing holes in the floor; I found it easier to drill new holes in the floor to match the feet. This has left me with a couple of un-used, un-plugged holes in the rear of the floorpan. I also had to remove the trim around the seat hinges, as they made the seat to wide at that point to fit in. Richard & Daffy (with smart new seats!!) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Important Notice: The information in this email is confidential and may be legally-privileged. If you have reason to believe you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on it is prohibited and may be unlawful and you are requested to contact the sender urgently and dispose of this email -----------------------------------------------------------exp. /// [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list /// Send admin requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] /// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool /// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive /// Send list postings to [EMAIL PROTECTED] /// Edit your replies! If they include this trailer, they will NOT be sent.
