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!!)
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