Tall guys and Miatas?

Dude, yeah I know. I eat a ton of food too. My metabolism is faster than a Hong Honda.

Carson, the answer to your problem is beer.

John Brown wrote: Foghorn, you need to do the seat back foamectomy. I replaced mine with a piece of one of those memory foam bed toppers (about 1/2" thick) and it kept my spine pretty comfy.

that is a great idea. i like my foamectomy'd seat, but i can't get it perfect. this might do the trick.

Carson wrote: My problem is that I am tall and really skinny 6' 32" inseam and maybe 130lbs. If I trim any foam out of the seat the lap belt will be full of slack. It hits that nylon knot that holds the buckle in place when the belt is not in use. As far as the mattress memory foam topper, talk to Keith about a the foam he used for his Targa car. If you plan on driving your car for more than an hour that may be the way to go.

Well, that's simple. Get a rollbar and a couple Schroth DOT harnesses or just take the damned button out. It is just there to help you find the seat belt.

Just got back in from doing a foamectomy.

Holy cruds that makes huge difference! I must have picked up 1"-2" of head room and I'm now sitting in the seat as opposed to on it. The seat-back foamectomy was super-simple. I didn't have to do any carving, just pulled the pad out of the middle.

I left padding on the front of the seat to cushion my thighs, time will tell if that stays or goes, ore maybe gets cut in half. I'm also thinking I may put a bit of padding back in the seatback for some extra lumbar support.

fiat22turbo wrote: Well, that's simple. Get a rollbar and a couple Schroth DOT harnesses or just take the damned button out. It is just there to help you find the seat belt.

I've thought about each of these. Removing the button is the much cheaper option. Removing it will let the buckle fall down behind the seat or get caught in the door jamb or something stupid like that. It's not an issue right now, but it would be if I sat any lower. I actually don't have a problem with the seating position. The only thing I notice is how low the steering wheel is compared to the MK2 MR2 I just sold.

Salanis wrote: I left padding on the front of the seat to cushion my thighs, time will tell if that stays or goes, ore maybe gets cut in half. I'm also thinking I may put a bit of padding back in the seatback for some extra lumbar support.

that is exactly what i did. i think i'm going to cut the front foam down a little b/c it's pretty pronounced, and it will give me a little more room between my legs and the wheel. i also left most of the lower back pad foam in place to provide lumber support, but might remove it to improve side bolstering.

or i might cut out some more of the regular foam and replace w/ a layer of memory foam, esp on the back.

Different approach guys, Remove the seat, roll the carpet back, and using a spot weld cutter or a cut-off wheel remove the 2 rear seat mounting pedistals from the floor. Use a hammer and dolly to flatten the indention in the floor. Remount the seat, bend the rear seat tabs up to match the contour of the floor and drill holes in the floor. Replace carpet, install seat with bolt and nut with large diameter washer and finish with undercoating to keep the water out. If you also have a shorter driver the seat rises as it moves forward. I did this on my 95 which my wife (5'4") drove and had no problem.

GUNDY wrote: Different approach guys, Remove the seat, roll the carpet back, and using a spot weld cutter or a cut-off wheel remove the 2 rear seat mounting pedistals from the floor. Use a hammer and dolly to flatten the indention in the floor. Remount the seat, bend the rear seat tabs up to match the contour of the floor and drill holes in the floor. Replace carpet, install seat with bolt and nut with large diameter washer and finish with undercoating to keep the water out. If you also have a shorter driver the seat rises as it moves forward. I did this on my 95 which my wife (5'4") drove and had no problem.

Really now..hmmm. how much does it lower the seat?

Buzz Killington wrote:

Salanis wrote: I left padding on the front of the seat to cushion my thighs, time will tell if that stays or goes, ore maybe gets cut in half. I'm also thinking I may put a bit of padding back in the seatback for some extra lumbar support.

that is exactly what i did. i think i'm going to cut the front foam down a little b/c it's pretty pronounced, and it will give me a little more room between my legs and the wheel. i also left most of the lower back pad foam in place to provide lumber support, but might remove it to improve side bolstering. or i might cut out some more of the regular foam and replace w/ a layer of memory foam, esp on the back.

I've decided the back of the seat is uncomfortable now. My back is just floating in dead space, unsupported. I'm going to replace the back. The side bolsters on the back are way better then on the seat bottom anyway.

That is why I did the memory foam in the center.

Can the foamectomy be done to NA leather seats?

Any seat.

CarKid1989 wrote:

GUNDY wrote: Different approach guys, Remove the seat, roll the carpet back, and using a spot weld cutter or a cut-off wheel remove the 2 rear seat mounting pedistals from the floor. Use a hammer and dolly to flatten the indention in the floor. Remount the seat, bend the rear seat tabs up to match the contour of the floor and drill holes in the floor. Replace carpet, install seat with bolt and nut with large diameter washer and finish with undercoating to keep the water out. If you also have a shorter driver the seat rises as it moves forward. I did this on my 95 which my wife (5'4") drove and had no problem.

Really now..hmmm. how much does it lower the seat?

I believe it's at least 1" in the full back position and about half that in the forward position. As an extra plus this gives more leg support by not lowering the front of the seat.

I just completed the foam-ectomy on my NA cloths yesterday and I am genuinely impressed with the results!

I took a solid 1.5"-2" out tapering downward from about 4" from the front of the seat. After I took the seat cover off, I tried to first remove the foam with a razor blade. Wasn't going to happen, so I tried a hack saw blade. No luck. I headed over to Target and bought a $15 electric carving knife (it's with the coffee makers and toasters, not the knives). Wow, that made quick work of it. I guess that's why there's that saying, "like a hot electric carving knife through seat foam butter." Maybe it's a regional saying. 15 minutes later I had a pretty good looking shape.

I'm really skinny and suffer from a genetic condition, no-ass-at-all, so I shaped some of the foam I cut out and added it to the side bolsters of the seat lower. Before I put the cover back on, I got some of that really resilient, poly-blend quilt matting and rolled a layer or two onto the seat bottom to take up the space where I cut out the foam. Buttoned everything back up with zip ties in place of the hog rings and the seat looked, um, stock.

I was worried that the cloth would be all saggy but the quilt stuffing kept the seat shape and when I sit on it, I sink right down to my newly carved seat.

With the top up, I now have a full fist of headroom and my legs don't touch the steering wheel under any sort of shifting or driving.

GUNDY wrote: Different approach guys, Remove the seat, roll the carpet back, and using a spot weld cutter or a cut-off wheel remove the 2 rear seat mounting pedistals from the floor. Use a hammer and dolly to flatten the indention in the floor. Remount the seat, bend the rear seat tabs up to match the contour of the floor and drill holes in the floor. Replace carpet, install seat with bolt and nut with large diameter washer and finish with undercoating to keep the water out. If you also have a shorter driver the seat rises as it moves forward. I did this on my 95 which my wife (5'4") drove and had no problem.

Looks a little like this:

John Brown wrote: Foghorn, you need to do the seat back foamectomy. I replaced mine with a piece of one of those memory foam bed toppers (about 1/2" thick) and it kept my spine pretty comfy.

I'm having trouble picturing this. Did you sculpt out a bunch of foam from the seat back before you put in the topper?

Sounds to me he removed the stock foam then put a piece of the memory stuff in its place.

'bout time you showed up here

Just give it to a short person like me... 5'6" - no problems!

Cuppycake wrote:

John Brown wrote: Foghorn, you need to do the seat back foamectomy. I replaced mine with a piece of one of those memory foam bed toppers (about 1/2" thick) and it kept my spine pretty comfy.

I'm having trouble picturing this. Did you sculpt out a bunch of foam from the seat back before you put in the topper?

Yes, removed upholstery, trimmed out center of the bottom and back of the seat, cut out the memory foam to fill the hole, spray a small amount of 3M adhesive to keep the memory foam located on the seat bases and reupholster. I will suggest a meat carving knife and a set of plastic meat shears.

FWIW, I tried the foamectomy on my Mazdaspeed Miata. Didn't like it. Made my back hurt and just felt odd in general. Not sure if I did it wrong. It did drop me a bit lower but didn't feel comfy. I'm 5'10"

Anybody else have the tops of their shoes hit all kinds of crap when trying to work the pedals on a Miata? The top of the windshield is in my way and the seat doesn't go back far enough, but I find the lack of foot space for driving to be a bigger problem.

since no one has decided to buy the Miata (hint: its for sale) i might just do that seat mod. looks like ill be driving it again this summer

Hah, it looks like quite a few GRMers are about to become the DPOs of the near future, not that the future owner is a primary concern when I modify a car.

Otto_Maddox wrote: Anybody else have the tops of their shoes hit all kinds of crap when trying to work the pedals on a Miata? The top of the windshield is in my way and the seat doesn't go back far enough, but I find the lack of foot space for driving to be a bigger problem.

Tops of feet or toes? If leg room is an issue go for a drive with the dead pedal removed and see if you like it. I cut mine down and found it helps to get a little extra stretch for the left leg. Are you hitting the steering column with your toes? Remove the mat if you have one, and wearing skinny heeled footwear (like Converse All Stars, etc.) should help too.

I've been thinking of cutting the foam in my '00 Miata for years, but haven't gotten around to it. The car has lots of track days on it and at this point, I guess I'm just used to it. I'm 6 foot tall and about 205#.

I have an MGB too. If you think the Miata windshield is low, you should try an MGB! It hasn't had visors for many years.