I scored a great deal on some two tone, black with grey inserts, leather Miata seats.  My 1980 recoverd seats were a little tired and I didnt care for the 80s twead look so I decided they would be a great upgrade in both looks and comfort.  I installed them in my 1980 5.0 B.  I decided to fill my old blind nut holes, since they were stripped out anyway and just drill new holes.  I am very pleased with the install, but I did note some potential problems for those wanting to do this swap.

I  mounted my seats on opposite sides, passenger seat on driver side and vica-versa.  I also used a BFH to pound the trans tunnel a little on the driver side for clearance.  I got both seats installed pretty easilly.  What I have noted is that I am 5' 7", fairly short.  At the max forward position before hitting the trans tunnel.  I can depress the clutch pedal with max extension on my leg but my wife at 5'4" will have difficulty driving the car.  Also the seats will only go back about 2 inches before they run into the inward curve of the door sill, so anyone over about 6 foot will not be real comfortable driving the car.  I love the seats but I don't see any solution to this limited travel issue.  Something to consider before doing this swap (at least the way I did it  )

I didn't swap sides with mine. I'll measure the adjustment range. Mine are most, if not all the way back.

On your website, it looks like you have the Miata seats that you can slide you hand behind the thin 1st layer of back cushion. If so, this air bladder tucks in nicely.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/robfuqua/CR-Z%20Mods/IMAG1075.jpg

Carl, thats pretty cool as mine do have that pocket in the back.

let me know on your seats.  Mine seem to be a very tight fit indeed, pressed right up against the trans tunnel and barely clearing the door sill with the seat cushion overflowing almost to the door itself!  They wouldn't even go in the car straight without switching sides.

Okay, my seats have 5 full inches of travel. The driver's seat goes so far forward my knees are against the dash & I can just barely get out. The front of the bottom cushion is almost lined up with the center of the window crank handle mounting screw. It will then slide back until the plastic seat pivot hits the sloping sill at the rear of the door opening.

Here's how I did mine.

QuoteI switched over to Miata seats my '79 B in 2002. I think they came out of a 1999 Miata. There are 4 or 5 variations of seats depending on which generation Miata.

I found no need to swap the driver & passenger seats. I used the stock mounting holes & bolts. Here's the way I did it:

I cut off the front Miata mounts & welded two 1.5" (approx) L's for the front "feet" to give some rise for thigh support.

In the back, I straightened the rear Miata mounts to be parallel with the seat tracks. This lowers the seat but causes the seat bottom to hit the floorboard. The Miata seat bottom is thin mild steel so it was bashed in a bit for clearance. The rear mounts are held on by two rivets. I removed the outer rivet & swiveled the mounts inward to work with the stock MG mounting holes. Welded them in place. Once the front was bolted in place & the rear was located, I welded fender washers on the rear mounts since the Miata mount bolt holes are much too large.

I'm 6' 1 1/2" so the seats do adjust back plenty far. They sat a bit too high for me, though, so I did a foamectomy on the bottom foam. Google "Miata Foamectomy" for more info on that.

Carl,
I just picked up a pair of excellent Miata seats while on vacation.  They are so good I plan to put them in my best Miata and move those seats to my MGB - a nice upgrade for both cars so everybody's happy!   Do you have any pics of your work?  I had planned to put the passenger seat in the drivers spot but after reading your message ...NOT!

Sorry, Gary, no pics. I did that ten years ago, thrashing to get it done before time to drive to the V8 Meet in Michigan. Couldn't deal with another long drive in the worn out stock seats.