Rolley - It's A Boy! (NA6)

Lokiel · Postby **Lokiel** » Thu Nov 03, 2016 3:46 pm

I'm assuming that your seat doesn't have the Probax insert (if it does, re-use the Probax foam and ignore the following).

Before you get too far with this, the non-Probax seats are very hard on your arse and not comfortable for longer drives.

I found mine way too hard and replaced them with Probax inserts - VERY EXPEN$$$IVE

but very comfortable if you don't think about how much they co$$$t

The original sponge-foam on the backrest, <5mm thick, was crusty and brown and disintegrated into dust when touched.
The foam on the seat base was much, much thicker but rock hard.

Consider upgrading the seat foam first (see RevLimiter's upgrade, http://revlimiter.net/blog/2015/08/couch-cushions/), you'll enjoy the seats much more.

Rolley · Postby **Rolley** » Thu Nov 03, 2016 5:31 pm

I've had a good read of Adams posts and your re-trim posts Lokiel.
I haven't found my seat too bad for daily duties and it's only seen one stint of 2hrs straight so far so time may reveal a different result. The foam in the base/back of mine is about 12-15mm thick as it sits at the moment. It is a series 1 non-probax.

I emailed back and fourth with Kemmler about the foam Adam used and for a half roll of the 1/4 inch foam it was going to work out to about $180aud give or take delivered to my door. I would prefer the 3/8 but that would have made it closer to $270aud delivered.
I couldn't swallow that pill.
My experiences with the Green/blue closed cell foam like you used for the inserts at the top of your padded section is that it collapses pretty readily in comparison to OEM when squashed under my large posterior.
I've just realised this step was missing from the seat saga. I pulled the Sparco for awhile as the cloth was rapidly wearing thin and reinstated the NB seat for daily duties. It now felt comically high and I found myself bracing when cornering the same way I did with the Sparco. So I cued the music and had at the NB seat with hammers and saws.
The result was I found the NB seat quite liveable with the bottom swab completely removed and very close to the carpet!

A trip to Clark Rubber got me some low density yellow for my butt and some medium/high density for thigh support. I went the bread knife/Utility knife route (because though I have a lot of tools a bench top voltage regulator is not one of them) and came up with this.

I shaped it a bit better and sewed up a black vinyl cover for it and it was put into service for a couple of months, being swapped with the Sparco when I wanted to really enjoy myself. I don't have a pic of it finished. Next time I'm in the parts hoard in the roof of the garage I'll snap one.

Long story short the green foam was showing signs of collapse. So unless I can find a local equivalent of the Kemmler Shock Tec foam I'm going to hold out and just recover the stock insert.

How did you go getting the UK mob to sort out the missing couple if inches in your inserts Lokiel? What foam did they use for the sections they made?

Lokiel · Postby **Lokiel** » Thu Nov 03, 2016 6:09 pm

How did you go getting the UK mob to sort out the missing couple if inches in your inserts Lokiel? What foam did they use for the sections they made?

Details here: http://www.mx5cartalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=41091&start=715

Short Version: I sent them a template I needed for the "missing chunks" and they sent me 2 alcantara wrapped Probax sections. The grey Alcantara didn't match the grey alcantara of the Probax seat inserts so I wrapped them in leather that matches my door trim, steering wheel, gear shift gaitor and handbrake gaitor.

I went from MazdaSpeed seats (higher than stock) to the Elise seats so the difference for me was far more pronounced (still wanted a flat-bottomed steering wheel though to make entry/exit easier).

I'm not surprised that the green foam collapsed so quickly after pulling apart several seats (one MazdaSpeed seat and 2 Lotus Elise seats) now and seeing how bad it can deteriorate - the factory foam is far more dense than your green foam so it needs to be quite rugged.

Based on what I've researched, it can take a long time to get your seats just right so it's worth cladding the seat in a cheap seat cover until you get the foam "just right".

Rolley · Postby **Rolley** » Fri Nov 11, 2016 11:07 am

We're not all hairdressers, some of us are seamstresses...
I will have to call in the big guns and take it to the trimmer to get the top and bottom sections sewn together. The poor old Singer is just not designed for 3 layers of vinyl and 1 of scrim foam.

Alex 2550 · Postby **Alex 2550** » Fri Nov 11, 2016 11:36 am

will look great when done mate, looking forward to seeing the final results

Rolley · Postby **Rolley** » Sat Jan 14, 2017 1:41 pm

Small update, I Had a few hours to play around with my door car project.
I will definitely need to call in help to join the upper and lower panels. I tried a few different methods on some scrap but couldn't get through all the layers effectively or close enough to the piping to make it look right.
I need to keep my eyes open for a budget friendly walking foot commercial machine. I have the bug again now and want to do more myself.

I've redesigned the window guides too. They are now a lot closer to the OEM design, with ridges front and back to carry a little more grease in the channel.

Rolley · Postby **Rolley** » Wed Feb 08, 2017 1:18 pm

What an awesome weekend.
Even as just a spectator with Bluey left lonely in the garage in Brisbane...

It was great to get down to Melbourne and catch up with my sister, spend an entire day rattling round talking cars with mates from here and the Facebook pages; many who I'd never met in person before. I swapped some seats with Still IC and caught up with Lyall and Okibi on Sunday morning for a bit of a chat before they headed off on the club run and of course load up on really good food and coffee.

DAM and I snuck around the pits early in the day and got to get up close and personal with the Cup Cars. Then a couple of really generous guys in Magpies pit donated their extra arm bands to us so we didn't get herded off by security.
A huge thanks to Magpie for letting me ride shotgun on the parade lap. The blast out of the pits and out round the back of the track was really impressive. Such a cool car!

No air-con and a hard top might of had us sweating out there but we faired a lot better than most in the sunburn department.

The race numbers on the doors are my favourite mod.

I battled the cue and signed the Millionth MX-5.
(The local dealer had one sitting in the showroom here in Brisbane today, Disappointingly I don't fit in it with the roof up. Seat all the way back and reclined to as much as possible to try and make it work but it's a no. Any bump would increase the already dangerous levels of brain damage I already have.)

Found another 5 with a set of Rodders, running better offset than mine too!

I hope Mazda do something like this again in the near future. I got a feeling on the day they were a little overwhelmed by the response from the public and not being solely a club based event the mix of owners covered every kind of 5 driver. If the stars aligned I might even get a chance to drive Bluey.

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Wed Feb 08, 2017 1:43 pm

Drive Bluey on the track in anger?

Rolley · Postby **Rolley** » Wed Feb 08, 2017 1:52 pm

One day for sure.

Just need to find out how expensive my girls hobbies are going to be before I get into racing and then have to stop so the girls can do their hobbies!

ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Wed Feb 08, 2017 2:53 pm

Nice Luke. So, you're going to be rocking twin Lotus Elise seats very soon?

Rolley · Postby **Rolley** » Wed Feb 08, 2017 3:13 pm

Plan is to have them both in for Jap day on Sunday Lachie and...

Got a call from my trimmer as I headed out of the office for lunch.
So it looks like I have a lot more work to do before Jap day on Sunday. I am really pleased with how these turned out.

Also the grinder has copped another workout and I finally have a good clean patch panel to fix my drivers side floor with.
The RH chassis rail was kinked pretty deep right back near the upright on this one, it still didn't want to give up without a fight though, kept trying to pinch the disc.
Tough little bastard.