Miata Race Seat Bracket Options?

Like everyone else, I'm looking for a way to mount a race seat low and far back in a Miata. On my last car, I removed the stock rear seat rail mounts (and made custom rails for a bottom mount seat), but this time, I'd prefer to leave them in place.

I picked up a pair of these seat brackets. Note that they have not been bent to shape yet and that they extend past the rear bolt points. Using them as-is would require extra holes in the floor (not a huge deal, but also not sure if I'm going to use these brackets yet).

I don't have a seat that will work with these yet, but it appears that I can fit a seat as wide as 15.5 inches, maybe a little more.

I was also thinking about these brackets from MemoryFab:

I don't qualify for their 36" waist seats so I would have to use another brand. Has anyone else here use these brackets?

Any other suggestions?

I don't think I've ever installed a seat in a Miata without having to alter the supplied brackets. From what I recall, the mounting points are closer together on the passenger side, so a rail that fits one side won't fit the other. Yay!

I also hacked up some stock brackets.

I'm trying to see if I can come up with some kind of option for using my old bottom mount Cobra seat. The seat would extend past the back of the brackets. I'm thinking about using these brackets with a 1x1 square tube cross bar for the front of the seat and then hanging a shelf off the seat belt bolts to bolt the rear of the seat to. The problem with bottom mount seats is accessing the rear bolts within the limited space.

Obviously this is for a miata that will be used for track days, etc and not a true race car. I dont mean that to be offensive but with carpet and evidently the need to have adjustability, this limits what you can do with the seat mounting. It will be very difficult to mount a seat low enough to get a tall driver(maybe I should say a long body driver) and helmet comfortably inside a hardtop or typical rollcage.

This car is for track days. I have no need for adjustability once it's installed. I will be using an FIA race seat.

Woody wrote: This car is for track days. I have no need for adjustability once it's installed. I will be using an FIA race seat.

Then just bottom mount it with some 1/4" strap metal.

Yep, you can even drill several holes with nuts welded on the bottom if you want some adjustability. The preferred SpecMiata method of seat installation. Why reinvent the wheel?

Here's where I'm at. This is my prototype bracket assembly. Now that I know that it will work, I'm going to upgrade to thicker 1x1 aluminum and I may drop the rear another quarter inch by going with 3/4" angle.

I bolted two pieces of aluminum angle across the bottom of the seat.

The rear piece sits in the apex of the piece bolted to the rear factory seat mounts. These two pieces will be bolted together, although it may take someone with smaller arms than mine. I will add another piece of angle across the forward part of the rails and bolt the foremost piece on the seat to it. Its very solid, low and slightly reclined for good leg room and thigh support. It also allowed me to use my existing race seat and this time, I didn't need to cut the factory rear seat mounts from the floor of the car.

Dude, Is the aluminum strong enough? I would worry about the fasteners ripping thru. I could be totaly off base as I have never mounted a race seat in a car.

Woody wrote: I was also thinking about these brackets from MemoryFab: I don't qualify for their 36" waist seats so I would have to use another brand. Has anyone else here use these brackets? Any other suggestions?

I used MemoryFab brackets, but mine don't look quite like the ones in that photo. They worked fine out of the box, no modification required.

Looks like you've got a solution in the works, though. I share porksboy's concern with aluminum, however. Steel just makes me feel safer.

Tom Heath wrote: I used MemoryFab brackets, but mine don't look quite like the ones in that photo. They worked fine out of the box, no modification required.

Tom,

What seat did you use with your brackets?

I used the itty-bitty (34" waist) MF seat. You might have to customize the tabs to accommodate a wider seat, but there's a range to be had by flipping the brackets as the mount to the slider.

Do you have the single lock or double lock rails?

Single lock. It/they look(s) like this.

The bolted to the original Miata seat holes perfectly (once I figured out the orientation.) and installation was very easy. To accommodate a wider seat you might have to reweld the tabs, but it should retain the sliding feature.

FWIW, I use the slider every time I get in and out of the car, since the bolsters are pretty high on my seat. It would be possible to ingress/egress without it, but I find it much easier to slide the seat back from my preferred driving position to get a little wiggle room.

Thanks for the photos. My preferred / required driving position is all the way back anyway.The sliders are a nice option if you can get low enough. They would make installation and removal a lot easier.

I have heard that you can get lower with the single locking rails, as the duals have a crossbar.

Currently, my seat won't bolt to the very lowest slots on the rails, so I don't think I've got much of an advantage over a dual-locking setup. It's definitely lower than stock, but I'm not sure by how much.

Thankfully, I'm just a little guy so I don't have trouble passing a broomstick test as it is.

In reply to Woody:

Sorry to bring this back from the dead, but which mounting brackets are shown in this photo?

Thanks, Bryan