My alternative to stock seats, can't decide what to do...W/Pics

Finally found some time to fool around with my new X. There is nothing more frustrating than having a new toy and no time to play with it (though I have been driving it everywhere).

Thought you all might find interesting the seats I'm thinking of using...

The seats are from a 1987 Mitsubishi Starion- I had these in my other '81, and I loved them. They fit in the X very well, have great adjustment, like: lumbar, thigh, and wing, as well as head rest, and best of all, give me about an additional inch and a half of head room. Something I need at my height. They obviously will need to be recovered, and I plan on ditching the "tufted" look of the vinyl in favor of a smooth design more similar to the stock X seat. I can't decide what color to re-do them in, though. Thoughts? When I got the car, I wasn't crazy about the brown dash/carpet, and off-white interior with the black exterior, and planned on swapping it out for a black interior I have in my parts collection. Now, however, the color combination has grown on me. The factory interior needs refreshing, as the vinyl has become spotty and splotchy, but otherwise it's in good repair. Also, take note of the little arm rest/console. I found it in a junk yard in an '80's Plymouth Horizon. It offers some good storage and a great place to rest one's arm. It's one of the most useful things I ever put in an X.

So, recover them in something similar to the factory seats, a shade of brown, or keep 'em black? And how hard is it to remove/change the vinyl on the firewall? Would it be easier to dye/paint it if I decide to go with the black interior?

My thoughts:

I like the seats - it's good news they add headroom. As for color combo, I would match the seat color to the dash color, and respray the door panels and rear panel in the same shade of ivory with some good SEM vinyl paint.

If you are planning to replace the carpet, then at that time recarpet the rear panel to match instead of recovering it in vinyl, and match it all to the dash color.

my two pennies

I love black interior, but with black paint it might be wanting some contrast.

SEM is the way to go as Zonker mentioned if you're going to dye anything. With proper disassembly and prep I've had really good results going from tan/brown to black on all the pillars/firewall vinyl.

The color combination is really a matter of taste. Whatever you do, don't use more than two colors. If it were my car, I would keep all the ivory, and change all the brown stuff to black (dash, pillars, carpet, visors, seat and door panel accents). That way you have your ivory contrast, and less mismatched 70's brownish tannish beige ish stuff going on. The only difficulty there is going to be matching the ivory vinyl with your seat upholsterer.

Good luck!

once again...kicking myself

before I got some Miata seats, I saw a pair of these for sale on Craigslist, and thought they really seem to fit the look of our cars, but the guy was flaky, and a long distance from me...I think they look awesome in there....so they fit good huh?

They fit perfect, Kevin...

...if you remove the original mounts and ditch the plastic trim covers around the hinges. I had them in my other '81 for years. There was an old Starion in a guy's yard not too far from my house, it had a great interior, including seats. I always meant to stop and ask him if I could buy the seats, but I noticed the other day it was gone.

I agree that some color contrast is a good thing. Today I was digging around my spare parts stash and found the black dash/console, door handles, etc. I would need to do a complete swap. I may do black dash w/ Ivory door cards and seats (If like was mentioned, I can find vinyl to match.)

Thanks for the opinions everyone.

daveblaney said:

Finally found some time to fool around with my new X. There is nothing more frustrating than having a new toy and no time to play with it (though I have been driving it everywhere).

Thought you all might find interesting the seats I'm thinking of using...

The seats are from a 1987 Mitsubishi Starion- I had these in my other '81, and I loved them. They fit in the X very well, have great adjustment, like: lumbar, thigh, and wing, as well as head rest, and best of all, give me about an additional inch and a half of head room. Something I need at my height. They obviously will need to be recovered, and I plan on ditching the "tufted" look of the vinyl in favor of a smooth design more similar to the stock X seat. I can't decide what color to re-do them in, though. Thoughts? When I got the car, I wasn't crazy about the brown dash/carpet, and off-white interior with the black exterior, and planned on swapping it out for a black interior I have in my parts collection. Now, however, the color combination has grown on me. The factory interior needs refreshing, as the vinyl has become spotty and splotchy, but otherwise it's in good repair. Also, take note of the little arm rest/console. I found it in a junk yard in an '80's Plymouth Horizon. It offers some good storage and a great place to rest one's arm. It's one of the most useful things I ever put in an X.

So, recover them in something similar to the factory seats, a shade of brown, or keep 'em black? And how hard is it to remove/change the vinyl on the firewall? Would it be easier to dye/paint it if I decide to go with the black interior?

Click to expand...

Well,

Some good solid argument(s) to put them in the X (lumbar support etc,) but IMHO, they pale in comparison looks-wise to the stock seats. Especially that year/model.

Reply

Hi Dave. Thanks so much for posting this. This looks to be an excellent alternative.

It seems to be a very difficult task to find other seats that can be fitted successfully into an X1/9. Some here have fitted Miata seats, but unless they are bolted directly to the floor (with no runners) this results in a considerable loss of headroom. Not good for us tall folks. Others have used 914 seats but these are very difficult to obtain. Or Elise seats - even tougher.

I would disagree with Tim. I think these seats look quite cool and much nicer than the stock seats. And lots of adjustments.

But Dave, I have a couple of questions if you would be so kind. You said "they fit perfect if you remove the original mounts". Do you mean the original Starion mounts or the original Fiat mounts ? Were you able to retain the tracks (either Fiat or Starion) to allow front to rear sliding adjustment ? This is important to me. Did you have to remove the original Fiat tracks (they are welded to the floor on a stock '81) ? Or are the Starion seats just bolted in with no tracks ?

Do the Starion seats fold forward to allow access to the spare tire ? I think the Starion was a 2 + 2 so I think they must.

How would you rate the Starion seats in respect to comfort ? Nice and cushy or firm ?

Thanks, Doug

Well, Doug...

...as far as tracks, I removed both. The Mitsu track frame is bolted on and was very easy to remove. My old '81 had rusty floors, so when I replaced them with sheet steel, I did not put the Fiat tracks back in. I bolted the Mitsu seats directly to my new floor using the threaded inserts in the seat frame the factory seat tracks bolted to. I did add some rubber mounts that I found in a surplus store which were soft enough to compress a bit, yet stiff enough to support to give the proper "rake" front to back. That said, one of the goals of playing with the seats the other day was to see if I could leave the Fiat seat tracks in place and do a similar mount on this car. I only eye-balled it, but I think it's do-able. I will have to take some proper measurements, to be sure, as the other evening I had to quit due to rain. Some might not want to go this route as it leaves the seats nonadjustable, but the only people to drive it will be me and my boys, and the only one of them old enough to drive (just turned 17) is already 6'2".

As for comfort, I would say the Mitsu seats are very firm in the seat, but I think most of that is due to the condition of the covering. The vinyl is so stiff it's like hard plastic now and has no give whatsoever. It's been that way since I got them. I'm sure when recovered they will improve vastly yet still be a good kind of firm. The back part is better, and I find it comfortable, as much because it fits me nicely. They do offer better support when driving spiritedly than do the stock Fiat seats, mainly as the side bolsters can be "dialed in or out".

And yes, they do fold.

Hope that helps. If I have a chance the next few days, I'll make some measurements to ensure that the Fiat tracks can stay in place using the same mounting plan as I used before.

Oh, and one more thing I plan on doing...

I have several old Fiat seats in my parts collection, and I want to see if I can adapt the frame tracks from one to the Mitsu seats somehow. This would be the ultimate IF I can make it happen. Again, I'll keep you posted.

I am not one to really give a great opinion I guess since I have the early version Miata seats in my X so...

Tim, my Dad used to say...

...don't ask for a man's opinion if you're afraid to hear what he says. I value criticism, both positive and negative, as long as it's constructive.

As my wife often reminds me, I am style-challenged, so hearing what others think is helpful. In the end, though, I'll do what makes me happy, and that's the joy of tinkering with old cars.

BTW, I like the Miata seats.

daveblaney said:

...don't ask for a man's opinion if you're afraid to hear what he says. I value criticism, both positive and negative, as long as it's constructive.

As my wife often reminds me, I am style-challenged, so hearing what others think is helpful. In the end, though, I'll do what makes me happy, and that's the joy of tinkering with old cars.

BTW, I like the Miata seats.

Click to expand...

Hah! So one thing I would suggest that I did; I took the stock fiat tracks and rails from my seats and adapted them to the Miata seats. I used 2 metal bars (aprox 1-1/4"?) and just tapped holes for the Miata seats to the bar and holes for the Fiat seat rail so I could use the stock adjusters, etc.



Some other pics

I think its actually 1 1/2 inch wide bar

Nice adapters

That's the way to do it. No permanent alterations and completely reversible.

Thanks

Hi Dave. Thanks for the reply.

Those Starion seats seem perfect for the X, but.....for me at least.....I would certainly want some fore and aft adjustment. The trick would be to do that without raising the seat much and losing headroom. And I wouldn't be too keen on drilling holes in the floor....

On a stock '81 (and I believe on all X's up to about '83), the lower half of the rails are welded to the floor. The upper half of the rails are - unfortunately - welded to the lower pan of the seat.

I would think the ultimate solution would be to get some crummy stock X seats and detach the rails from them. I think they are spot-welded on. Drill out the spot-welds to remove them. Then somehow - either by welding or making some brackets like Tim did - attach them to the Starion seats. So the new seats just slide into the existing (stock and un-modified) X rails on the floorpan.

That way you could always revert back to stock X seats in the future if you wanted.

The trick would be to do this without losing much headroom. But the X rails are pretty thin - maybe 1/2" total - and you indicated that you already had the Starion seats spaced up off the floor with rubber spacers, so perhaps this is possible ?

I think the X rails (the ones welded to the floor) are sloped front to rear, so you would have to account for that to get the angle of seat bottom correct.

And Dave, a quick Google search seemed to indicate that '87 Starions came with either cloth, or optional leather, seats. No mention of vinyl. Are yours actually vinyl or perhaps crusty leather ? It seems other years of Starions (or Conquests) came with quite different seats -even it seems an option of some really funky looking ones that seemed to have power adjusters. Oh by the way, are your Starion seats much heavier than the stock X seats ?

And Tim - my comment towards you was simply to express a difference of opinion. With taste there is no right or wrong. If you took it any other way kindly accept my apologies. And by the way, what was the end result of your Miata seats install with rails ? Any loss - or gain - of headroom compared to stock X seats ? And your seats were from ? First gen Miata ?

Dave please keep us posted on any progress or some more pics.

Thanks, Doug

rx1900 said:

And Tim - my comment towards you was simply to express a difference of opinion. With taste there is no right or wrong. If you took it any other way kindly accept my apologies. And by the way, what was the end result of your Miata seats install with rails ? Any loss - or gain - of headroom compared to stock X seats ? And your seats were from ? First gen Miata ?


Thanks, Doug

Click to expand...

My friend - didn't even think twice about it. It did make me think twice about my opinion (thus my admitting to using Miata seats )

The seats are out of first gen miata, which is NOT the best seats according to Miata owners to use. However I was concerned about using the 2nd gen seats as they are taller. And Tyrone was nice enough to find them in a wrecking yard for me

The "custom" (I laugh at it being called custom since it is literally 4 rods) install worked out well and I used a later set of stock x19 seats which are bolted into the floor and the rails bolt onto the seats so easy to remove/use. The height is def taller than the stock seats. The Miata seat is short enough so as not to interfere with the upper "roof" section (what the hell do you call that section?) but my head just barely touches it. Someone taller than 5'10" may bang their head.

If you haven't decided... I found a pair that...

would be perfect!

They're still mounted in a well cared for 1st Generation Miata with the extremely RARE "speaker-delete" feature...





(I say "well cared for" with regard that it actually drove to the VA Medical Center, and apparently left under its own power as well...)

Let me know if you are interested and if I see the owner in the Mental Health facility again... I'll give him your offer.