What seats will fit, MX5 and what else ?

I will take measurements of my Saab seats.

 

not exactly sure what you want me to measure? i took a quick look, and replicating the measurement you've got on the second pic above, i measured the bottom of the runner (remember though this is a westy runner i bolted to the mx5 seat) to the top of the centre of the seat cushion is about 170mm.

from what i've seen, i think mk1 and mk2 mx5 seats are similar/potentially the same underneath. Mk3 seats are completely different and also as i said before, they have airbags so you don't really don't want these.

the thread you referenced in your first post covers everything i did to fit my seats - basically source some scrap westy seats, take the runners and the flat metal base/pan they bolt to, cut the pan down so you only have the minium material you need to be able to support the two runners and the handle that locks the forward/backwards sliding. Drill some holes and bolt this to the bottom of the mx5 seats using the captive nuts that are already there. Slide them on - done.

 

Hello Rob, thank you for getting back.
As an emergency I have just deleted my last post before yours here. I am going to go back out and re measure the Saab seat just in case it was further up off the ground where it stands. The lever on the side may have been pumped up. The lever pumps the seats up and they can be lowered as low as they will go. I will check this and then come back to you what you said.

 

Where was I, oh yeah I ballsed up, don't ask me why I forgot that there is a lever on the side to make the seat go up and down. So that altered the measurements .Start again...
I measured the Saab seats that I have out in my shed and these measurements are approximate within 5 mm or so.

If the the sliding runners are taken off the Saab seats you would be left with a bracket that connects to the runners. I assume that this is how some people may have fixed them to the wheel tubs and then non-movable backwards and forwards but you could be lower at the seat base. That measurement from the underside of the bracket to the top of the seat base is 190mm left on the runners the measurement 230mm
The measurement of the original VW seat base overall top of seat base to tub is 150mm.
Difference between Saab and original seat base is 40/80mm
When I sit on the original seat I have a measurement of 90 mm clearance between the under side of the steering wheel and top of my leg.
Take the 40/80 off the 90mm that leaves a clearance of 50/10mm which all sounds about right as when I put the Saab seats in complete with runners to test when I first got them my legs were very tight to the underside of the steering wheel, no gap, where they must have been at their highest level by using lever on the side
If there is no additional height grained when fixing the brackets that are on the Saab seats to the tubs the seats could be usable, they are usable, people have used them but that is tight and I only have a leg that is about 130 mm thick,don't call me a matchstick man, but I am slim.
I've had to go through all this to get to the bottom of it. It is very difficult to get this information when trying to obtain seats from sellers.
Please correct me if anyone thinks that the measurements are way off, but I do use a tape measure everyday as a wood butcher, no I'm not that bad.
Going on what 77 westy has said about the thickness difference between Saab and
MG seat bases there is a difference of 30 mm and I see that he had left the runners on he's Saab seats therefore the clearance could be at least 40mm for my quite thin legs if I used MG seats.
To work out if anything else is going to fit I will just need to have the seat base measurement from underside of where it fixes to tub to top of seat base.
And if anybody else is looking for replacement seats and trust my measurements just measure your own leg thickness.
If I can get the measurement of the MX5 seat next that will be good.

Thank you 77 Westy and is that Lain MC Avoy for your comments, those T25 captain seats look fine.
Dan

 

I removed the original seat runners and used the Saab and MGTF runners, I definitely didn’t have a problem with clearance under the steering wheel but it wasn’t something I measured. My bus is at the cosmetic surgeons following an intimate relationship with Smart car but I should get it back tomorrow and I can measure the steering wheel clearance with the MG seats if that helps.

The problem I had with the Saab seats is that my wife has short legs and her feet didn’t touch the floor. I’m far from tall but I must have longish legs and a shortish body and I had no problem reaching the pedals or with headroom. I found the full leather Saab seats comfortable but the half leather MG are cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter – that might influence your choice although it’s probably not an issue in the UK.

 

I

 

Thanks for getting back Westy, you are definitely better off in Lyon today with a temperature of 4 degrees.
We are freezing here in Essex, the temperature is 0 degrees mostly of late by day and minus 4 by night and set to get even colder.
That would be great if you could measure the steering wheel clearance. All info helps.
Both of the Saab and MG seats look good in your bus by the way.
With the Saab seats there is the option if needed of being able to fine adjust the seat tilt for the back of the seat and tilt the front up or down with the other lever and slide back on the bottom tracks, but as we know there is not a load of extra space in the front of a VW bus driver side especially.
Thanks again for your help, Dan

 

Mk1

Sent from my SM-A127F using Tapatalk

 

Mk2.5 :

 

He's got some chestnuts on him!