MX5 seat availability

[stephen low]

Guys

As is usual during a build I have been searching for seats for my car. I set my eyes on MX5 seats and have finally bought a nice leather pair at a v good price for such seats.

I managed this by a post to an MX5 site and have become aware of a few other pairs of seats that are available privately both in Melbourne and interstate at reasonable prices. These seats include early and late model black cloth options and a black leather option so if anyone is in the market for MX5 seats let me know.

Additionally, the fellow I bought my seats from, (a) has a second cloth pair but more importantly (b) works for Ford in the engine testing area. The conversation I have had so far tells me he can wipe the AU2 computers to disable smartlock and any other bits such as A/C so that the engines will run properly and without security issues.

For those setting up for B series Ford car engines, he has also done these to death, so there may be benefits in talking to him as well, though he is a hard bugger to track down and lives down Geelong way but commutes to St Kilda a few nights per week. He did also mention testing of an LPG injection system? on a current car and was impressed by the power delivery of the system, so this too may be worth consideration.

Anyway the "B" also has a very nice turbo XR6 ute company car. He is also getting away from developing race capable cars, mainly MX5's, but is clearly knowledgable in race preparation of cars.

Let me know if there is any interest in talking to this bloke, he is definitely a most informative source of info for the Blue oval product.

Cheers


Steve

[400TT]

MX5 seats are the trick. Smallest production car seats we could find. Base is narrow enough to be able to slide back and forth in Cobra and seat is slim enough to give people with long legs enough length. Slider mechanism is double locking, so added strength. Sliders are also easy modified to mount on Cobra floor. You even get speakers in the headrests if you get the right model.

Far more comfortable than original styled Cobra seats.

I think we were one of the first to pioneer using them. We are just using grey velour imports, from jap importer. I think the imports all have speakers.

Thanks for the heads up Stephen, they have become rare as hens teeth as Cobra guys snapped up what the importers had. I doubt anyone else was buying them.

Another good seat, is RX7 seats. Though they are a little wider in base area.

For anyone serious with racing though, the side bolsters are not large/rigid enough, so your rear end tends to slid a little on track. Though they are miles better than original Cobra seats.

[Kanga]

I got my seats from Ian at classic revival, saas makes them, I think that they make them send them to Ian and then sent them back to me, might be easier to go directly to the supplier and i purchased them raw, frame and foam only. I have actually found them to be pretty good however I had to expand the sides in order to fit a little better.(must take up bike riding like bernie) I don't know what the MX 5 seats are worth but once trimmed in leather the costs of Ian's start to climb.


Steve

[400TT]

Originally Posted by Kanga

I don't know what the MX 5 seats are worth but once trimmed in leather the costs of Ian's start to climb.

Steve

MX5 seats would be a lot cheaper to purchase, but triming costs would be similiar to anything else.

We only went with MX5 seats because they were cheap. And didn't have to worry about the cost of trimming.

[stephen low]

Having spent months looking and enquiring I can tell you the wreckers want approx. $1000 for a pair of leather seats usually later model NB, about $600 - 800 for NB cloth seats and around $500 for early NA cloth seats.

I paid $600 for my 2002 model leather seats with the runners and this fellow also has a 2000/01 pair of black cloth seats with runners neg around $450 - so you can see his prices are good.

Another fellow in Dandenong has an early NA cloth pair for around $400 neg. All good prices so if anyone is chasing seats let me know!!

Later model seats are supposed to be a bit more comfy and hopefully less worn but the NA seats are still a good option.

Steve

[400TT]

All I can say is that they have got a lot more expensive than they were a couple of years back.

[stephen low]

It might also be that up where you are they are far more popular to catch the "rays" so the relative abundance sways the price?

[Tenrocca]

Being the "pioneer", maybe they weren't in great demand back then?

[Cobra.au]

For those prices I would be spending a little more and put a set of fixed back aftermarket race seats.

[400TT]

Also with the MX5 seats we found they fit better if you use passenger seat on drivers side, and drivers seat on the passenger side. Well that's the case in a Harrison.

Originally Posted by Cobra.au

For those prices I would be spending a little more and put a set of fixed back aftermarket race seats.

Yeah, prices are certainly a shock. Aren't all the leather MX5 seats tan coloured?

My take on race seats vs MX5 type seats.

Race Seats:
Pros: Lighter, have harness holes, no sliding & no slipping, have race look.
Cons: no good if you have a large bum, no seat sliders, a lot of shoulder supports will foul door(need notching), no tilt adjustment, less comfortable for long trips.

MX5, RX7 etc Seats:
Pros: Well thought they were cheap, very comfortable for long trips, seat sliders, speakers in head rests, tilt adjustment, have more street look.
Cons: ok for racing, but not as good support, harnesses struggle to rest on shoulders, heavy.

All that said and done, my brother after 3 years of constant racing with MX5 seats is just about to fit a drivers race seat. Always looking for that little bit extra. Will see if it's comfortable enough to drive down to Nationals with, if not the MX5 seat will be used for Nationals.

[Beejay]

I think the MX5 seats are pretty good. I paid about $400 the pair, but have seen them as low as $250.

I will be slicing off the top of them after rego though!
Ben

[stephen low]

Purporttdly the MX5 seats are some of the lightest production seats available, so for those of us wanting 95% use based on comfort, adjustability etc these are fine.

If I was building a serious race capable car that the missus wasn't to drive terribly often, then yes a fix race bucket to suit my build and size would be the ideal.

Clearly cars are built to accomodate the many, two in my case, so compromise is the word, but I think the MX5 seats do a good job in this case. She who must be obeyed allowed me to buy the kit and SHE is no slouch behind the wheel either so with our different builds I have to provide some reasonable driving accomodation else I will just get it in the ear until I do!!

I tend to get what I want but again in this scenario the real word is compromise - SHE compromised and I got a kit so I bend a little to allow her driving comfort. This will come in handy in the future when I have had too many heavys at a club bbq - nothing like pre-planning!!

Where there is a will there is a way!

Ciao

[Churchy]

The MX5 seats seem to be a good option for Classic Revivial (thanks Beejay for having them mounted). So based on that there are couple of suppliers mentioned in this thread.

I do want the speakers in the seats (need the doof doof in the ears), so I was wondering if you guys who know the suppliers could either forward or post the contact details and I will start the search.

Thanks

[400TT]

I would contact all the jap importers and see if they have any. A few years back they were a good source and may still luck upon them.

Then I would try MX5 clubs. A few guys up here have had good success with cheap seats from club members. But I would assume posting on MX5 site would be tapping into a similiar pool.

You could also try the wreakers, but MX5's don't seem to come up much.

Don't worry about the speakers, they either come with them or not. They are hidden in the headrest. All fabric seats I have seen have zipper to open up headrest to get access to the speaker.

RX7 seats are also a very good looking seat, more shape than MX5 seats. The only drama is that they are slightly wider base, but still seem to squeeze into Cobras. Our president has RX7 seats in his DRB.

We were grabbing the early cloth MX5 seats for $250/pair or less not long ago. The importers couldn't move them at that stage.

If you are running harnesses, unmodified MX5 seats tend to push the harnesses a bit wide over the shoulders. No problem if you have wide shoulders though.

I certainly couldn't complain about the comfort of MX5 seats. Driving Harrison Cobra from Brisbane -> Goulburn with 350lbs springs, 17" race tyres and came out of it with a spring in our step. The old DRB with softer springs, 15" tyres and Cobra replica seats was a different story, you came out stiff after a couple of days driving.