Sparco Seat in my Miata

Good morning GRM Universe! I tried to install the Sparco seat that I've had for 3 years yesterday (for the first time) and it doesn't quite fit. It took me this long because I didn't have the adapter to which I needed to bolt the sliders and it was never a high priority. Anyway, I got the adapter and tried to install everything.

The first thing I noticed was that I needed to cut the bolts short that installed the sliders to the adapter because they stuck out the bottom of the bracket so far that the assembly just sat on the floor of the car suspended by the bolts. OK, so I cut them short with a hacksaw When I finally got the front bolts into the frame and locked it into the car, I was surprised to find that the whole thing sits about 2 inches to the left of where I think it should. Like... when I close my door, the door hits the seat. I can fit my fist down the right side of the seat next to the transmission tunnel. I actually have to reach slightly to the right to grab the steering wheel. WTF? Is this how it's supposed to be? Or did I buy a crappy mount from a company that apparently misspelled "Engineering" on the sticker they applied to the mount?

Honestly, I don't mind the off-set position too much. I think I might just get a harness and see how it all goes together. But why would it be that far off? There's only one way I can see this going together so I don't think I installed it wrong.

I don't think I would want my seat closer to the door than it was already designed to be just from a safety perspective. I have had to move my seat mounts twice on my track civic to try to get better clearance between the seat and the roll cage on the door side. I know you don't have that problem yet. If you are touching the door any chance one of the mounts can be switched or swapped around to get more clearance?

It only installs one way. There is a seatbelt mounting point on the adapter/mount that has to go next to the transmission tunnel.

Every Miata seat rail setup I've seen has been impossibly tight to the trans tunnel, with some needing the tunnel to be hammered in to fit properly.

This, combined with the crap hardware, sounds like you just have a crappy mount setup :(

I can vouch for the Pro-Car setups, which are the gold standard of Miata seat brackets AFAIK. http://5xracing.com/i-8595396-pro-car-innovations-adjustable-mazda-miata-race-seat-mount.html http://5xracing.com/i-12004650-pro-car-innovations-1-piece-super-low-race-spec-seat-mount-for-mazda-miata.html

The Garage Star setup is also good if you need it to slide. http://garagestar.com/shop/seat_rails_90-05.html

Is it a side mount or bottom mount?

What Sparco seat? I know some seats with wide shoulder bolsters (Evo series, Pro2000, etc) don't fit without significant modification to the transmission tunnel and door.