NB - Alternative Seat Fitment

[GC8]

As title really; does anyone know of an alternative seat fitment for a Mk2 MX-5? Im looking for series production seats in leather, and head room is an issue...

[HorneyMX5]

A lot of people seem to fit Elise seats.

Nick

[GC8]

So I understand. Theres a pair on eBay at the moment, but theyre looking well-worn for the money.

[snotrag]

Mk3/NC seats.

Had cloth ones in my Mk2 and they're lovely, unfortunately had to sell them on now.

[GC8]

Straightforward?

[youngsyr]

Elise/Exige seats will fit in, but are side mounted. MX-5 seats (at least the NA and NB ones) are bottom mounted, therefore you will require "L" shaped brackets to fit Elise/Exige seats onto the NA or NB sliders.

The upside of having the brackets made is that you can lower the height of the seats an inch or so and still have them adjustable (to slide forward/back at least - the Elise/Exige seats are fixed-back and so do not tilt in the middle).

[MX-5 Lazza]

I did have Elise S2 seats in my MX5 but I've replaced them with Mk3 MX5 seats. The Mk3 seats are much more comfortable but to keep them mounted low I have them bolted to the floor - well to plates bolted to the seat mounting holes to be more precise.
I do still have the Elise seats sitting in the garage which might be for sale. They are promised to someone else at the moment but if he doesn't take them then they might be available.

Elise S2 seats


Mk3 seats

[Mr MXT]

Do the NC seats offer much side support Laz? From the pics you post I always think they look a little bench like?

[snotrag]

They are MASSIVELY better than then standard NB seats I have. try get a sit in a Mk3 somewhere.

I fitted mine slightly different to Lazza - I was able to mount them onto the MK2 Runners so they retained the fore-back adjustment.

[MX-5 Lazza]

They have much better side support. The Mk1/2/2.5 seats are particularly lacking in shoulder support but the Mk3 seats are a massive improvement. Maybe not the shoulder support of the Elise seats but they are a lot of comfortable than those. I haven't had a chance to use them on track yet, if they work well there the Elise seats will be for sale

I did have mine fitted on the runners but being 6'2" I needed a the extra headroom.

Being flat bottomed it's easier to mount them to the floor than the Mk1/2/2.5 seats which have the base below the runners).

[GC8]

How will the squab height of NC seats compare to Mk2 separate headrest seats?

Im going to try a foamectomy on a drivers seat that I have here, and see if solves my headroom problem.

I understand that Mk2.5 seats will need a foamectomy just to enable me to fit oin the car with them fitted.....

[MX-5 Lazza]

Definitely a lot lower than Mk2.5 seats. I can't comment on Mk2 seats.

[GC8]

Thanks.

[MX-5 Lazza]

As you can see in my pictures, the base is below the height of the sills if that helps.

[GC8]

They look to be virtually as low as the Lotus seats?

[youngsyr]

GC8 said:

How will the squab height of NC seats compare to Mk2 separate headrest seats?

Im going to try a foamectomy on a drivers seat that I have here, and see if solves my headroom problem.

I understand that Mk2.5 seats will need a foamectomy just to enable me to fit oin the car with them fitted.....

A foamectomy in the base of the seat will give you around 1" of additional headroom.

Apparently a foamectomy in the seat back will give you around 1" of additional leg room, so you could possibly move the seat forward 1" and tilt it that little bit further so that you're sitting more horizontally than veritically. I wouldn't know though as the seat back foamectomy on the two piece seats looked tricky. The seat base one was very easy, a 15 minute job once you've read and digested the instructions.

[GC8]

Thank you. The seat back does look a little too involved, and with far too great a risk of a f*ck-up.

I think Im going to go for a quick base foamectomy using tie-wraps.

[MX-5 Lazza]

GC8 said:

They look to be virtually as low as the Lotus seats?

A touch lower on mine but that's mostly because the Elise seats are on the MX5 runners whereas the Mk3 seats are on floor plates. If I mounted the Elise seats to the floor plates I'm sure I could get them lower.

Note though that I have the Mk3 seats tipped up so they are quite high at the front. This is so that my legs rest on them for the full length of the base to make them as comfortable as possible (and to make the most of the seat heaters). Even more headroom could be available if they were mounted flatter.

Edited by MX-5 Lazza on Tuesday 6th December 08:39

[youngsyr]

Lazza, how do you bolt the NC seats to the floor, i.e. how do you get underneath the seat to tighten the bolts into place? Do you tighten them from underneath the car with the car on a ramp?

I've got a set of Exige seats that are mounted as low as possible on the oem sliders, but they could be even lower if I bolted them directly to the floor on a set of bespoke brackets.

The only issue is that I would only be able to use them on track as my OH and I share the car for day to day use and her legs are too short to be able to use my seating position, so I'd need to take the Exige seats out when I'm not using it.

[youngsyr]

GC8 said:

Thank you. The seat back does look a little too involved, and with far too great a risk of a f*ck-up.

I think Im going to go for a quick base foamectomy using tie-wraps.

I found cable ties to be the best option too. Re the metal rings that keep the covers on, I found that using a pair of grips to bend them out of alignment and then twist them out was the quickest and neatest way.

For cutting the foam, I found a bread knife was very good.