Need info about Miata seats in Spridget

[RickB]

Anyone who has done this or knows about it -
Are there specific years of donor cars I should look for, do all work or just some?

What are the issues, I know about the tonneau not fitting the headrest - anything else?

 

[Gerard]

Rick,

I've done a couple, but on chrome bumper cars. I don't think the original mounting holes are different in a rubber bumper car, but I'm not positive, so my remarks are in context of a chrome bumper car. YMMV

There are a couple ways to do it depending on how much fuss you want to make. I went to the trouble of making some custom brackets so that no modifications were necessary to the seat rails or to the floorboards.

The stock Miata rails can be bolted to the original rear floorboard holes (they line up pretty much the same). The front ones will be farther forward, so you'll need to make new holes. The Miata seats also have locating pins at the front, which are fairly long and so you will want to cut them off. The front of the brackets are angled slightly, so you will want to straighten them a bit. The holes in the seat rails (front and rear) are rather large, so you'll need some fender washers and maybe a stack of washers or some spacer material to get everything level.

You can see how mine look in this slideshow link for my '68.

https://www.vuvox.com/collage_express/collage.swf?collageID=0134319034

Gerard

 

[RickB]

That looks very nice, your car is a very fine example!
The seats look great in there too.
Thanks for the help.

 

[taskadog]

I mounted mine directly to the floof. i got some #11 IIRC all thread and put about 3" studs into the bottom of the Miata seat. Drilled two new forward holes and bolted it down.
My factory tonneau works great.
Phil

 

[twas_brillig]

Anyone installed them in a Bugeye?
I'm thinking that us trunkless wonders might not have enough rearward movement.
Thanks
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[Gerard]

There is just as much room in a Bugeye, but (in my opinion) high back seats don't look right in a Bugeye.

Gerard

 

[jlaird]

Actually think about this. The thicker the seat back the less leg room you will have.

No prob if you are a little person but.....................

 

[Jim_Gruber]

I mounted Miata Seats in Bugsy my '68 Sprite. I cot off the fornt locating pegs and was able to match up inside front hole on both sides. I used a 1" piece of square bar stcok under rear of the seat track to raise it up and keep the seat move level. It is possible to use adapter plates and not need to drill any new holes. I have a Rollbar in Bugsy and seatback recline is a little limited but I have far more room than stock Square Bodied Spridget seats with headrests. And the speakers in the headrests. Is is actually possible to hear the radio at speed.

Would I put them in a BE, well seats are supportive., I've got a Spridget with a BE Front end and I think they look awesome. Without the rollbar and windblocker, hmmmn... Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[Jer]

Actually think about this. The thicker the seat back the less leg room you will have.

No prob if you are a little person but.....................

That's the problem with the Spitfire seats in my 67' Midget, they don't fit back as far as the original seats & even with my stubby legs (27" inseam) I can't stretch my leg out, as soon as I can find some original seats (65 - 68) I will be yanking those Spitfire seats ! Never appreciated the difference until I got my 74 with original seats this past fall, only other midget I have ever sat in.

 

[jlaird]

So, think about this. BE seats are only about 1/3 as thick as other Spridget seats.

Every couple of inchs is a joy.

 

[RickB]

My son and I went to a couple Salvage yards yesterday that said on the phone they had Miata's.

The first had one car, it had seats in it however no top over the car and the seats were leather. The seats were in terrible condition, the drivers side was torn pretty badly.

I went next door to the other yard (competing business) and looked at their Miata.
It had the top covering the seats so I looked them over and pretty much liked what I saw.

I went to the counter and asked how much they wanted, it was $200 for the pair.
I told them the speakers had already been pulled from the headrests and the drivers side was worn and offered $100 for the pair. The guy said that's good so I went out and pulled them.
Of course the convertibles are stored on top of the sedans so it was a reach getting the bolts out. The very last bolt was a bugger (of course).
I ended up getting in the car in the space the passenger seat had formerly occupied in order to get enough traction on the wrench to get the bolt to budge.
Then I carried both seats and my tools - of course the Miata was as far away as it could possibly be. I even called the office from out there to ask if they had any sort of cart to haul big stuff back - they didn't.

The seats are good, I have to clean them up and then see how I can put the passenger in as the driver and vice-versa.
The wiring is intact so I can put new speakers in once I figure out what to buy.
No seat heaters, but I actually have a nice pair of seats for $100.
Maybe one of the big lbc vendors still has a seat heater kit on sale...

Oh - they are black, so I may be dying my interior black to match.
A green Midget looks good with a brown, or tan or black interior.
I don't think mixing black seats and brown interior is appealing though.

 

[Jim_Gruber]

Congrats on the seat. You will love them. I'll be happyt ogive better description if needed on what I did to make them fit in Bugsy.

 

[twas_brillig]

Dang! I'm jealous (both over the seats and the nearly free price). Check with the aftermarket folks as there are speakers for the DIY'er that wants to install speakers in his seat headrests; presumably they'll have them designed to replace the original Miata as well.
Doug

 

[Jim_Gruber]

Congrats on the seat. You will love them. I'll be happy to give better description if needed on what I did to make them fit in Bugsy.

 

[RickB]

Thanks Jim, I'd love to get more info before I start fitting them!

 

[RickB]

Before I buy speakers I'm looking at a set of seat heaters.
It's cold out there!!

 

[Jim_Gruber]

You'll need an alternator ifrst and foremost.

 

[RickB]

Remember, I have the Datsun A15 and 5 speed 60L combo in my car.

So yeah - I've got an alternator...

 

[RickB]

Wow, new seat covers for the Miata seats cost a LOT less than Spridget coverings.
There are sellers with vinyl covers for $100 - $150 and leather for around $250 and up.

Compared to Spridgets at $300 and up for vinyl and sky high for leather.

Wow!

 

[Jim_Gruber]

Lots more Miata's out there now and there is competition not limited sources of supply. The Free Market System at work.