You're not the only one not happy with the Miata seat conversion. I did it
twice, and didn't like it either time.
Height was only part of the issue for me. The thing I really didn't like
was the way it sets you off to the side of the car. Lack of adjustment was
also an annoyance. Both times I went back to the stock seats and was much
happier.
Miata seats come with several different seat rail configurations. Even with
the narrowest, there just isn't much room to fit them into a Spitfire, at
least not very well.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg Rowe" <growe58@hotmail.com>
Subject: Problems with Miata seats
>I finally got a set of Miata (MX5) seats (from a 1990 Miata) and spent a
> frustrating Saturday unsuccessfully attempting to install the passenger
> seat. I never even got as far as the drivers seat. From searching
> the internet (and many thanks to those who shared the info!), it seems
> that there are three basic ways to bolt Miata seats into a spit.
>
> -Modify the feet of the seat rails
> -Cut off the feet of the seat rails and fabricate new brackets
> -Fabricate custom brackets that span from the spitfire floor to the seat
> rails.
>
> I rejected option 3 because it appears to me that it will raise the seat
> to an unacceptable height. Options 1 and 2 are really the same thing
> and should give the same results. I chose 1 (from Paul Tegler's site
> mostly because I had the right tools for it!).
>
> My problem is after getting about halfway through the job and doing some
> test fittings, it appears that no matter what I do, the seat cushion is
> still going to be too high! There seems to be 3 reasons for this -
> first the cushion is simply thicker than stock, secondly the seat rails
> themselves are higher and finally when the seat is pushed all the way
> back, the prop shaft tunnel flares out at the back and lifts the seat up
> (it makes contact with the actual seat, not the rails).
>
> I'll admit that I didn't complete the job, however I did get as far as
> bolting in the front bolts and modifying the rear feet and did a test
> sitting. Unless I recline the seat uncomfortably far back, my eye level
> is about even with the top of the windscreen which is too high. I tried
> moving the seat forward but it didn't seem to help; if anything it made
> things worse by reducing leg room but not reducing height.
>
> I thought about removing the seat rails entirely and bolting the seat
> directly to the floor pan, but after a few trials, it appears that the
> shape of the seat bottom is not really conducive to this.
>
> Any suggestions? Am I being overly concerned about the windshield
> height? Should I just put the darn things in, recline 'em and learn to
> like it?
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