Swap drivers & passengers seat on NA8

geoffblick · Postby **geoffblick** » Thu Jul 07, 2011 12:18 pm

Can I swap over the drivers & passengers seat on my NA8? The drivers is worn & the passengers is pristine.
I realize the levers for the backrest will be on different sides but will the seats line up with the bolts/holes on opposite sides?
By the way, there are some cheap Miata/MX5 books on Amazon. I bought "Mazda Miata MX5 Performance Projects" for A$14.93 + A$9.98 postage = A$24.91.
Delivered in 2 weeks. Regards Geoff......

Postby **NitroDann** » Thu Jul 07, 2011 12:22 pm

The seats should swap but youll have to swap the rails completely. In this case the levers wont be on the wrong side.

Dann

geoffblick · Postby **geoffblick** » Thu Jul 07, 2011 12:35 pm

Thanks for the help. I will give it a try. Geoff....

geoffblick · Postby **geoffblick** » Thu Jul 07, 2011 2:38 pm

WTF does "double post" mean?

93_Clubman · Postby **93_Clubman** » Thu Jul 07, 2011 3:00 pm

Just Dann pressing the 'submit' button twice - he might be on a smartphone or similar, so no full size keyboard.

Postby **Okibi** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 12:24 am

I've only really played around with NB seats, for some reason I have a feeling the backrests aren't identical, might only be because of the levers to adjust the angle of the back and you'll still be fine swapping them across (if you don't mind the levers on the inside).

Apu · Postby **Apu** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 9:07 am

NitroDann wrote:The seats should swap but youll have to swap the rails completely. In this case the levers wont be on the wrong side.

Dann

That's interesting Dann...wonder if it will work for an NB. Might try it out this weekend!

Postby **NitroDann** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 10:04 am

I said should

. Its the way most cars are but I have never tried it with an mx before.

Dann

bigdog · Postby **bigdog** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 10:42 am

The rails are different for passenger and driver seats, but the bolt holes in the seats are the same, so you can swap the seats. The backrest levers are part of the seats so will end up on the wrong side if you swap them, and will be behind where the seat belt buckle is on NB seats as this is attached to the rails. There are two bolts from the seat belt buckle frame that go into the side of the NB seat - these would have to be left out if you swapped seats around. An NA seat belt buckle is stalk mounted to the tunnel, so the lever position won't be quite as problematic. There are plenty of used NA seats around that are cheap to buy - so if yours is worn I'd buy a replacement S/H one. NB seats bring good money if they are in good condition, so that's not so straight forward. Okibi may be right on the shape of the backrests being different side to side - they may be angled inwards slightly, but that shouldn't affect you too much.

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 12:21 pm

would it not be just easier to renovate the drivers seat- in that way you have 2 seats which are presentable and without any compromises.

93_Clubman · Postby **93_Clubman** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 3:16 pm

bigdog wrote:An NA seat belt buckle is stalk mounted to the tunnel, so the lever position won't be quite as problematic.

BD, if I'm reading your post correctly, & I remember correctly, there's a slight difference between the NA6 & NA8 in terms of the seat belt buckle stalk & mounting. NA6 is as you say mounted directly to the transmission tunnel, but the NA8 is mounted to the seat base/ rail, which in turn mounts to thre transmission tunnel. This meant the NA8 short non-flexible seat belt buckle stalk moved with the seat as the seat base was moved back or forward. Whereas the NA6 long flexible seat belt buckle stalk remained static as the seat base was moved forward or back.

bigdog · Postby **bigdog** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 5:09 pm

Ah, I didn't realise the NA8 had seat mounted buckles too. My understanding is that you can also choose to use the NA6 tunnel mount on NAs and NBs if you so desire -the threaded holes are in the tunnel on all of them.

alexpav · Postby **alexpav** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 5:05 pm

Hey...
Im in the middle of changing seats in my NA8 at the moment...
The distance between the rails on the driver is different to the passenger seat...they are about 15mm different.
Hope this helps..
Cheers
Alex