Seats - RX7, Miata, etc.

[SteveInOakland]

Well I picked up some first-generation RX7 seats and did a good bit of the work to fit the driver's seat. But it's too high for me, just as Montoyafan suggested a month or so ago.

I was pretty surprised, because this is a low seat, and I also removed the 3/4" or so of spacers that come stock between the Z and its rails. Feels like I'm maybe 1.5" higher than I want to be. (If somebody wants these seats cheap, PM me. They're dark grey vinyl with a face of two-tone grey cloth, nice shape.)

Anybody who's put in Miata seats -- do these sit roughly as low as the original Z seats?

What about Honda del Sol seats? By some reports these are made by Recaro.

Also, has anybody used the "seat reinforcing straps" that Too Intense Restoration sells?

I've now got a fairly decent original driver's seat to go with my fairly decent original passenger seat. But still not all that much support in the butt. So the straps are interesting.

I confess I don't quite understand the foam sets that are available for the stock seats. The original seat bottom is mostly springs, with some foam and horsehair laid over the top. Can anyone clarify?

Thanks a lot for any suggestions.

[Arne]

The strap kit is meant as a replacement for the straps that Datsun used instead of springs in the early 240Z's. The seats in my '71 have no springs, only the straps (which are rotten, I will replace them soon). I don't think the straps will add any support to the later seats with springs, assuming they can be installed on later seats at all.

[montoya_fan01]

Arne is right. Straps for earliest 240z's, springs for later 240z's (approximately 6/72 production date).

as for the foam sets, they are made to approximate the shape of the OE foam. True there isn't much in the seat bottom and it wouldn't be too difficult to come up with something that will work on your own, but the sets are very handy for replacing the foam in the seat back.

[SteveInOakland]

Thanks, gents. I hadn't known about that difference, early vs late. FWIW, the springs and the rest of it are the same on my '73 240 as they are on a seat I pulled out of a 1976 280. Just some differences in the way the slides get attached to the seat.

With the metal springs, it looks like a guy could tie some of them together to increase the level of support, maybe bring it back more to the original level. A few are tied together in the first place. You wouldn't have to tear the seat apart to do this.

Steve.

[mdbrandy]

Here's a pic of the Seat I took out of my 240Z. As you can see, it has the springs, even though the car is an 11/69 build, which tells me that the PO has replaced the seats at some time in the past. However, on the foam, you can still see the cross-hatched impressions from the straps that were original to the car, so he obviously used the original padding on a newer seat, without the straps.

I know he "refreshed" the car in about 1992, which was before, I suppose, new seat inserts were available.

FWIW.

[Carl Beck]

See: <a href=http://zhome.com/ZCMnL/AcuraSeats/AcuraBeck.htm TARGET=NEW> http://zhome.com/ZCMnL/AcuraSeats/AcuraBeck.htm</a>

As you can see in the pictures, the rear of the Acura seats is about the same height as stock, but the area under your legs at the front is just a bit higher.

The Acura seats are FAR better than stock as far as driver support is concerned.

FWIW,

Carl B.

Carl Beck

Clearwater, FL USA

[SteveInOakland]

Thanks, Carl -- I've spent a lot of time on that page of yours over the last few weeks!

I'm getting some results with tying seat-springs together, right now, in the original seat bottoms. Still needs some refinement.

Steve.

[Carl Beck]

If tying the springs together doesn't do it.. you can try doing what Acura did.. weld a solid piece of sheet-metal across the bottom seat frame to support the cushion, then insert higher quality foam.

Of course because of the basic shape of the original 240-Z seats.. they will never provide the support that the far better designed Acura seats do. All depends on how much support your body requires. When I was 20, 30 even into my early 40's the original Z seats were fine. But as I grew older, my back, hips and legs required better support for longer trips..

good luck,

Carl B.