Miata Seats

NOTE: The Miata seats are asymmetrical just like a TR6 so there's a driver's seat and a passenger's seat and the two are not interchangeable. Make sure you mark the pieces Driver or Passenger.

The Miata seat rail are much nicer than the stock TR6 ones and I wanted to use them rather than try and modify the TR6 rails to the Miata seat pans. Here's how I did it.

The rails are held on with 4 bolts. Pay attention to how this wire attaches. The driver & passenger wires are different lengths which will be evident if you install one wrong . :-)

Here's the handle side..... another Hog Ring!

And the other side.......we'll be sliding that hog ring to the side to get the wire off or the rail.

Here they are off of the seat with the hog ring moved to the right. We'll do the same thing on the other side and then remove the wire from the rails.

For some reasons guys have problems with this next step. What you need to do is flatten or straighten the front of the rail. I read posts in the forums where they're beating on the rail with BFH trying to get it to lay flat. My solution was much simpler. :-)

I just clamped the front of the rail in the vice and bent it until it was straight.

And now it's straight.........took about 5 seconds and no effort to do.

NOTE: If you are buying Rick Patton's Miata seat brackets DO NOT cut the pin or grind the lip.

Now you need to cut off the pin and grind the hole lip flat.

The pin and lip are both gone.

If you plan on buying either Rick Patton's brackets or the A.R.E. brackets... DO NOT remove the rear pieces from the seat rails.

NOTE: If you plan on buying either Rick Patton's brackets or the A.R.E. brackets... DO NOT remove the rear pieces from the seat rails.

Time to work on the rear end of the rails by drilling out the rivets.

NOTE: If you plan on buying either Rick Patton's brackets or the A.R.E. brackets... DO NOT remove the rear pieces from the seat rails.

With both drilled..........hit 'em with a punch.

NOTE: If you plan on buying either Rick Patton's brackets or the A.R.E. brackets... DO NOT remove the rear pieces from the seat rails.

And the foot is loose...........and not required.

Up above I warned you not to remove the rear bracket if you planned on buying either Rick Patton's brackets or the A.R.E. brackets. The problem is, as I recall, you can't take the rails apart for a thorough cleaning unless the bracket is removed. I had to reattach that rear piece to install Rick Patton's brackets as you can see in this section of my site.

Now you may want to clean the rails up to get them to roll easier. These work a lot smoother than the stock TR6 seat rails once all the gunk has been cleaned out of them. On the advice of one of the 6-Pack Forum members, I picked up a spray can of Break Free CLP in the gun department of Dick's Sporting Goods. Any gun shop should carry this stuff and it works great........man is it slippery. I let it soak in for a while and then pulled the rails apart. This is easier said then done and required some persuasion with a hammer and punch. Before you start knocking them apart look through the pictures below so you don't end up with little ball bearings rolling all over the place.

Here they are separated. The roller mechanisms in the middle are what you have to watch out for.....so keep your hand under the rails as you see them begin to appear.

When I took them apart, the rail was in the vise upside down from this picture so the first roller hit the floor, followed by two ball bearings.

Another View

Fully exposed. Note how everything rides in the mechanism and in the rails, as assembly is the reverse of disassembly.

Last view

Two rollers per rail. The big bearing in the middle just rests there with nothing holding it in place. The ball bearings on the other hand....................

They should be pinned in place but I had a few fall out. I had to bend the bracket a little to get them to hold the ball bearings in place. Don't forget some lube.

I hate to say it but reassembly is done in the opposite order............and it will require a hammer.