Suppose that in my search for an NB I've found a car which is perfect in every way except that it has leather seats. Yes, I know I can track down a set of cloth seats to replace them with.

Alternately, has anyone come across a decent set of OEM-like covers which can be used to re-skin the seats, rather than just covering over the existing leather? Seems like there are a lot of kits designed to go in the opposite direction...

 

Not cheap. cloth and leatherette miata seat reupholstery kits

Duetto Seat covers (cloth) - MX-5 Miata Forum

 

These are teh secks. I honestly wouldn't be able to tell they were covers if I hadn't installed myself.
They are very leather like except they don't care if they get wet.
Are you looking for cloth covers specifically?
I'll post some pics of mine when I get some free time tonight.

 

D'oh! I forgot NB seats are different. I don't know if this company makes an NB equivalent.

 

I agree leather seats are teh suck. I havent found anything, but if the NB leather seats are like the NA they're going to have different padding than the cloth version. I've got conflicting reports on if you can buy just the covers from the dealer or what the price is. I think you can get them maybe but mazda motorsports lists them for $0.00... Seriously considering putting the stock seats out of my racecar into my dad's miata to drop me down like 2 inches and get rid of the stupid leather.

 

Sub'd. My NB seats are in dire need of a refresh or replacement, and I haven't found anything other than the typical overly priced oem seats on forum classifieds yet.

 

I have tried like 4 different kinds.

THEY ALL SUCK MASSIVE DONG

Went back to 01+ black cloth seats, cause they are the best.

You want cloth, get oem cloth seats. Or suffer with crappy "skins". The only ones properly made are like $500+ and most are in leather at that. I was shocked at how little the selection for cloth is actually.

/thread

 

You cant find too much in a quality cloth replacement...
Im pretty sure its because Cloth Absorbs Farts too well.... and nobody wants their car to smell like Fart...

 

Assuming the bolsters are in good shape, an upholstery shop can remove the center leather sections and replace them with a suede or other cloth type fabric of your choosing. The cost of doing this can be very reasonable.

While the covers are off, you can also lightly sculpt the base foam to add a slight concave shape to make the seats more comfy.

Good luck with the NB. IMO, the later they get, the nicer they get, for either a driver or a racer. The later ones have a much more rigid chassis.

 

What would one sculpt with to get a nice smooth surface? Ive seen some foamectomy patients, and they look like they had a nice case of flesh eating bacteria, and all the infected tissue had to be removed.
Scalpel? Razors? Dremmel? (i assume the dremmel would burn the foam though)

 

Some kind of hot-wire foam cutting thing that nobody actually owns.

 

 

Yes. Anyone who believes that having leather seats in a roadster should be subjected to forced sterilization.

Beyond the obvious aesthetic concerns (leather seats in a 10 year old convertible are faded, creaked, and look like ****), there are serious practical issues as well. Leather seats are highly effective at absorbing energy from solar radiation and then transferring that energy into human skin, yet exhibit a very low coefficient of friction against denim, and are thus exceptionally poor at holding the human *** firmly in position during periods of high transitional lateral g-loading.



I've finally accepted that, despite my love for <$1,000 cars, the '01-05 really is a vastly superior vehicle in every way.

 

Psh.... i totally have one of those.... lmao

ACTUALLY.... i can probably make one with a medical Bovie. Its a Hot wire tool that we use to burn holes in fingernails and such to release the pressure and blood from underneath. The electric current turns the wire red hot in about 1/2 a second. i bet i could rig 2 of them up to heat up a straight wire between them to do this job.
Anyone wanna donate their seats to test my idea???? lmao

 

You can buy a hot foam knife for $30.

 

The only way to mess up a foamectomy is if you attack it with a sawzall like faelflora

 

My search foo is apparently weak this morning, but I used a product similar to this with my 18 volt drill.

It made a huge mess, but you could sculpt pretty well with it. home depot stocks them as a alternative to wire brushes.

 

http://www.mossmiata.com/Shop/ViewPr...IndexID=118956

Would something like this work?

 

well.... those are seat covers... we are talking about SEAT COVERS.... lol
Complete fabric replacement. Straight fabric over the foam

HOWEVER.... if you are just wanting covers to put on your seats, to protect the factory seat or whatever, these would be an option. Personally, i hate seat covers. Even Form fitted ones like these. I have the $400 Neoprene seat covers in my Mini, and they suck too... Worst $400 ive ever spent... but my leather still looks damn good underneath... only benefit ive noticed. But they slide around on the surface of the seat like crazy. I dont feel secure at all on them.

 

My car is 9 years old with about 125k on the clock. Bolsters are in great shape, no cracks, and no noticeable fade. I also track the car 6 to 8 days a year and while they don't hold you in all that well its not like I am struggling to stay put.

I also live in Florida and if you just put the top up when you park and tint the windows of the car the heat shouldn't be an issue unless you tend to wear short shorts and have paper thin skin. They are also very easy to keep clean and are aesthetically pleasing.