boxofbits Posted April 15, 2018 Report Share Posted April 15, 2018 (edited) Hi All Between showers I managed to get the drivers side MX5 seat installed today. There are two types of seat fitting mounts supplied by TR Trader, one for a tall driver and one standard. The difference in height is that of a 7/16 nut which is roughly 1/2 in height. It may be of interest that if you want to space the seat upwards as I did, a seat belt spacer does the job instead of a nut, and also locates perfectly in the hole on the seat runner ( as photo). The only thing I find is that the rake of the seat is fairly flat and the front bracket could be shaped to give the seat a slightly raised profile for support under your legs, and to help the seat base clear the floor . Anyone made special mounts for these seats? Kevin Edited April 15, 2018 by boxofbits Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Graham Posted April 15, 2018 Report Share Posted April 15, 2018 I found the same thing, that the seats were very flat so I fitted spacers between the seat and runners at the front to give the seat squab more rake. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted April 15, 2018 Report Share Posted April 15, 2018 Use the brackets that are outlined in the Technicalities CD as I find they give a better rake and are stronger. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
boxofbits Posted April 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2018 Use the brackets that are outlined in the Technicalities CD as I find they give a better rake and are stronger. Stuart. Thanks Stuart I'll look them up. I doubt the original design of the seat support frame for the MX5 was dead flat. Although you want the back of the seat as low as possible, it really wants the front of the seat base to come up some for better support. I'm 6' so appreciate the rearward travel and backrest adjustment of the MX5 seat, but the TR Trader front bracket really needed to be of a stepped or adjustable design in my opinion, especially for £70 odd. Kevin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Drewmotty Posted April 15, 2018 Report Share Posted April 15, 2018 I made my own brackets 40mm high unistrut across the front and 15mm high aluminium spacers at the back using only the flat section of the MX5 rails and cutting off the MX5 mounting lugs. I used the original TR front inboard floor anchor position, ditching the captive nut and used 5/16 bolts with big spreaders under the floor drilling new holes for the remaining three mountings. The carpet was cut out at the rear so that the (more important) rear mounts clamp directly onto the steel floor with no carpet or insulation squashed between them. These heights give a suitable rake to the squab and are about as low as you can go without the seat base dragging on the carpet. The seat is set so that the plastic recline cover just misses the B post trim when pushed back and gives a good compromise on alignment between the steering wheel and the pedals. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted April 16, 2018 Report Share Posted April 16, 2018 Thanks Stuart I'll look them up. I doubt the original design of the seat support frame for the MX5 was dead flat. Although you want the back of the seat as low as possible, it really wants the front of the seat base to come up some for better support. I'm 6' so appreciate the rearward travel and backrest adjustment of the MX5 seat, but the TR Trader front bracket really needed to be of a stepped or adjustable design in my opinion, especially for £70 odd. Kevin Im 6.4" and the brackets from the CD work a treat for me and were made up by a local engineering co for about £60. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SeanF Posted April 16, 2018 Report Share Posted April 16, 2018 Use the brackets that are outlined in the Technicalities CD as I find they give a better rake and are stronger. Stuart. Morning All, Does anyone have a good copy of this design from the technicalities CD? I have lost my CD and even if I find it again I don't think I have a computer with a CD drive anymore. Many thanks, Sean Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Graham Posted April 16, 2018 Report Share Posted April 16, 2018 Morning All, Does anyone have a good copy of this design from the technicalities CD? I have lost my CD and even if I find it again I don't think I have a computer with a CD drive anymore. Many thanks, Sean Sean I think they are all loaded in the 'members' area if I ould remember my password I could go and check, but they make the password so bl@@dy complicated I keep forgetting what it is and keep getting locked out ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SeanF Posted April 16, 2018 Report Share Posted April 16, 2018 Sean I think they are all loaded in the 'members' area if I ould remember my password I could go and check, but they make the password so bl@@dy complicated I keep forgetting what it is and keep getting locked out ! Hi Graham, I looked in the members area but I don't think this one is in there. Seemed to be just a selection of technical articles, unless I was looking in the wrong place. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted April 16, 2018 Report Share Posted April 16, 2018 I put some pictures up here https://www.tr-register.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/62891-mx5-seat-brackets/?hl=%2Bseat+%2Bbrackets I think the engineering co who made mine possibly stll have a pattern for them. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SeanF Posted April 17, 2018 Report Share Posted April 17, 2018 Thanks Stuart. Could you PM me contact details please? Cheers, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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