Porsche 914 Seats - Comfortable?

So I'm working on a vintage inspired build for a Miata and looking for appropriate seats and the Porsche 914 looks like they might be a good candidate.

Anyone want to comment on how suitable these seats would be as a daily driver?

Ottawa

No brackets to speak of, so you would be sitting ON the floor. Probably not the worst thing in a miata.

The black ones are ugly, but most readily available.

Comfortable enough, but probably not suited for road trips.

Not sure you'd want to go from cloth or leather to vinyl in a convertible.

Here is a hotlink to the type of seats I'm considering:

Fiberglass = light. The two adjustments are fore and aft; the rear is hinged and the front is jacked up & down a four position notch. If you get the seats, get the rails and notch thingie also.

Would I drive cross country in a 914? Probably not, unless I had to.

Comfy? You can pay more for less comfort with more bulk/weight.

I have a big butt.

Dan

Who else has Sir Mix-A-Lot going through their head right now?

Keith wrote: Who else has Sir Mix-A-Lot going through their head right now?

You like Dan's big butt?

In reply to 914Driver:

OK well you would certainly be the authority on these seats, wouldn't you, so thanks for chiming in.

So not x-country but how about a 45 min daily commute, I won't be dreading them at the end of a long day?

Also I'm around 6' tall how much of my head will stick up above the top of the headrest? The current Miata seats leave a lot of my noggin riding above so no great in case of an accident (i.e. whiplash).

Thanks again for any and all opinions.

Ottawa

p.s. Red beans and rice missed me, I'm only around 175lbs.

mtn wrote:

Keith wrote: Who else has Sir Mix-A-Lot going through their head right now?

You like Dan's big butt?

I cannot lie.

Dan, don't bend over around Keith.

I had an early 914 which has the passenger seat built into the trim on the passenger side. The drivers' seat was OK for around town etc but needed lumbar support.

Sir Mix-a-lot recommends the lambo seats

We've got them in the Manx, and I think they're great. That being said, I'm 5' 11" and 155 pounds. I can see how they wouldn't be great if you're a bigger person.

I like the sound of a vintage inspired Miata build.

Luke wrote: I like the sound of a vintage inspired Miata build.

So its nothing big like a Simpson Italia bit just a series of small things. Keith is actually doing the build for me and you can read the diary here: Flyin' Miata : Projects: Project 707

The big thing is the paint, a non-metallic Porsche 356 aquamarine. The small stuff includes Aero Mirrors, steel wheels, prototipo steering wheel, etc...

The seats are stumping me right now, a trade-off between comfort and style. My choices include using something modern and comfortable like black MSM seats versus something vintage and cool like 914 seats.

Eric

go on Clubroadster and look up 90MX, he has a vintage-themed Miata with seats reasonably similar to those, but with a sliding headrest, and much higher side bolsters (the seats almost look triangular if you look at them from the side), you might want to look into what seats he has. of course, you could get an aluminum bomber-style seat and get it upholstered to suit you, although you would have to sort out some sort of headrest

In reply to Slyp_Dawg:

Thanks, that is the kind of thing I've been looking at.

The headrest is important to me, although removing the HardDog Hard Core roll bar makes me less nervous about hitting my head on something all the time. This build is for a fun vintage inspired daily driver, not an auto-x-er.

The comfort of the seat is directly related to the individual and his/her body dimenssions.

Corbeau makes some decent looking seats. The classic bucket looks close to the 914 seats but more padded.

Ottawa wrote: The seats are stumping me right now, a trade-off between comfort and style. My choices include using something modern and comfortable like black MSM seats versus something vintage and cool like 914 seats. Eric

You could always go with something from these guys: GTS classics seats They aren't the cheapest, but they do have some cool retro styles available. I was looking at some for my X1/9.

By the way, cool project! As far as wheels go I've always wondered how a set of "wobbley-web" wheels would look on Miata.

In reply to mblommel:

I saw those, some great looking seats for sure but I'm looking to keep it to $600 for a pair of seats not each so too rich for my blood.

Corbeau Classics?

Ottowa, I forgot to mention places to go. 914world.com is a pretty good site; mostly left coasters, but knowlegable and friendly.

PelicanParts.com offers any 914 part you ever need. If all else fails, Google 914 seats and see what comes up. 914 seats are just covers stretched over a fiberglass bucket, someone offers padded replacements.

Dan

Well I have an update on the 914 seats.

These were installed by Keith and look very appropriate

I then drove the car 2,000 miles in just over 2 days and I must say I was always comfortable for the duration. In fact I think these seats were better than many/most of the newer seats for some reason, I never had any back or leg pains even after spending 16 hours a day sitting in them.

Ottawa

That turned out better than I pictured. Good work.

Looks excellent, as does the finished product! That's something I'd love to imitate if I ever get an NA Miata.

I actually think the steel wheels you had on it at first are more in-keeping with the style, but understandably they were probably a wee bit puny.