Thanks to Chris, Nolan and Paul for their replies to my question about
modifying Miata seat cushions. Chris's suggestion that I look at Miata
owners web pages was spot on as I found a couple that addressed this
issue (apparently tall Miata drivers have a problem with seat height as
well):
http://www.villacorte.com/miata/seatfoam/
http://www.miata.net/garage/headroom.html
I originally wasn't sure whether to remove foam from the top of the
cushion or the bottom - I was leaning towards doing the bottom so that I
could maintain the shape of the top. Once I dissembled it, I quickly
changed my mind as the bottom of the foam sits in a metal pan with
rather complicated contours that would have to be maintained. Much
easier to reshape the top of the cushion!
The articles above recommend removing foam using the electric carving
knife from the kitchen. I tried that and my seat foam ended up looking
like the surface of the moon. I got much better results using an angle
grinder, it was not only many times faster, and more accurate, but you
could make long smooth shaping strokes. If you don't have an angle
grinder, likely a sandpaper disk chucked into an electric drill would
work just as well (or better), but I was out of sandpaper. You may want
to do this outside as foam dust will be shooting all over.
The seat covering sits a little looser since the foam is lower, but it is
hardly noticeable.
Actually bolting the seat into the car was highly annoying as it is
impossible to move the seat far enough back to easily access the front
mounts so it was an awkward fraction of a turn at a time. I think next
time I'm going to remove the welded nuts on the underside of the floor,
so I can hold the bolt from the top while tightening it from the bottom.
I've only modified and installed the passenger seat so far and am
tolerably optimistic with the results, better than an unmodified seat,
but I'm not sure if it's completely satisfactory. When I do the drivers
seat, I'm not only planning to get more aggressive with the foam
removal, but I may have a go at the seat pan as well with the
aforementioned angle grinder, so I can move it further back. I'll
let you guys know how it goes.
Best!
Greg
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