Miata seats - sort of how to.

[cygnusx1]

Using the 77/78 280Z seat rails under older Miata seats.  Open up the rear most rail mount hole of the Z seat rails a bit for wiggle room.  Drill a new hole in the forward part of the rail to match the alignment of the threaded holes in the new seat bottom.  You need to beat down the underside of the seat metal for clearance, but you can use spacers to compensate some to get more clearance for the lever mechanism.  The more spacers you use, the less you need to beat the seat down, but your seat height will be higher in the car as a result.  I beat down the seats for both rails, even though you only need clearance on the adjuster side.  Doing it on both sides makes the cushion feel more symmetric to your rear-end later.  I found a happy medium of spacers and hammering, which puts the seats about 3/4" higher than the stock bottoms, but at a much more comfortable lean angle than stockers.

 

You will need to adjust the width, left to right distance between the rails a little with a hammer, dremmel, file, or leverage.  It's pretty easy to move them +/- 3/4" in either direction just by leveraging them after they have been mounted, especially if you used spacers.  The seat metal is pretty soft and allows flex left to right of each rail for very easy alignment to the floor mounting holes in the car.

 

 

Edited May 5, 2016 by cygnusx1

[jhm]

Thx for sharing, Cygnus! Haven't heard much from you lately....been busy with other projects?

 

Good choice on the Miata seats -- they are cheap, light and plentiful.

[drawz]

Thanks! May I ask what year those Miata seats are from?

[socorob]

They look like NB Miata seats.