Replacing bongo seats for MX5 seats i

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Merlot man
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Replacing bongo seats for MX5 seats i

Post by Merlot man » Sat Mar 04, 2017 1:20 pm

Hello all
In considering replacing the bongos cloth seats with leather items from an mx5 mk1/2
What are people's views / experience of doing this , can the mx5 seats take the bongo runners ?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice
Brian
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Re: Replacing bongo seats for MX5 seats i

Post by BigPanzer » Mon Mar 06, 2017 2:02 am

Hi,

I've heard rumours of this being done, but no idea what is involved. 'Er in drawers used to have a leather trimmed Mk1, I used to find the seats got hard after 100 miles or so but i'm a skinny ars*d creature. Did like the headrest speakers though. Could be nice on swivel mounts.

Peter
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Re: Replacing bongo seats for MX5 seats i

Post by mikeonb4c » Mon Mar 06, 2017 9:57 am

I'm sure its been done and discussed on here before but not sure what keywords to search old threads as MX5 is too short as 3 letters and 'seat' brings up hundreds of items!

Edit: Here's one interesting but not encouraging thread:

http://igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/view ... ront+seats
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Re: Replacing bongo seats for MX5 seats

Post by Merlot man » Mon Mar 06, 2017 2:12 pm

Thanks for the replies gents .
I'm going to have a look at this during the week as I have a set of '5 seats at home ,I'm interested in the mk2.5 mx5 seats as they seem comfortable and really look smart , some also come with seat heaters !!! ......nice :lol:
That topic link is encouraging mike as it says that the passenger seat is a straight swap ,I've a side conversion so I'd only be able to do the passenger swivel but that would be ok .
Other than new dawn conversions , do any other company do a swivel kit for the seats do we know ?
I say any other as it appears that they need you to send on the seat base and from Ireland that would work out quite expensive , here and back !
Thanks
Brian
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Re: Replacing bongo seats for MX5 seats i

Post by Bongolia » Mon Mar 06, 2017 3:57 pm

I don`t know of any others but I have seen one on You tube but whether he markets them I couldn't say.
When I enquired with New Dawn they told me it was only the base you send so postage may not be that great.
Fitting swivel bases is quite easy put crudely its just two plates with the rotatory bit in between the problem with the Bongo is the engine hump doesn't allow clearance so the seat has to be raised at an angle to clear before rotating. Shouldn't be a difficult thing to achieve but at the price New Dawn offer its probably not worth the aggro, depending on postage that is.
Maybe somewhere on this site someone has done it so maybe a good search through may yield some info.

I would say if you decide to go down the DIY trail avoid the type on auction sites that swivel from a centre pin unless these are very well made they are likely to give problems in an incident as all the force is on that pin. I had this type fitted in my VW and during a minor shunt the passenger seat ripped out from the swivel pin and the wife ended up in the back it could have been nasty luckily it wasnt.
I replaced it using the turntable from a secondhand Toyota Lucida middle row seat. These are secured all around the circumference so the loads are spread evenly in the event of a collision. They are heavy though and may add a bit to the height of the final job but mot by much.
Back to the Bongo original fitment I wonder if the seat, held in place by four bolts , could me modified using thumb screws to enable the seat to be relatively quickly s released and rotated simply by turning it round. Not as convenient as the swivel but cheaper and probably an easier option if you were constructing yourself.
Good luck.
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Re: Replacing bongo seats for MX5 seats i

Post by Merlot man » Mon Mar 06, 2017 5:06 pm

Thanks for that bongolia , to be honest I don't see myself doing a DIY job on it for just the reasons you mention , glad to hear that SHMBO was not hurt . I'm quite happy to go with the new dawn item and as you say postage of the base only mightn't be too expensive .
I' going to have to talk to them about it and maybe enquire about the mx5 seat working
Thanks again
Brian
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Re: Replacing bongo seats for MX5 seats i

Post by Bongolia » Mon Mar 06, 2017 5:29 pm

Merlot man wrote:Thanks for that bongolia , to be honest I don't see myself doing a DIY job on it for just the reasons you mention , glad to hear that SHMBO was not hurt . I'm quite happy to go with the new dawn item and as you say postage of the base only mightn't be too expensive .
I' going to have to talk to them about it and maybe enquire about the mx5 seat working
Thanks again
Brian
Yes I think that the way to go TBH.
Would be interested on the MX5 seats swop, how those turn out.
Just looked some up on Ebay they look nice and I do need 4 seats for the Wasp.
:(
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Re: Replacing bongo seats for MX5 seats i

Post by Merlot man » Mon Mar 06, 2017 8:15 pm

Yes bongolia , I think that they don't look too bad ,depending on what your looking for the mk1 /2 seats come with a removable headrest or the imported ones have a tumb stone back . The mk2.5 ones look more modern in either cloth or leather and some come heated :D
Lots people use the mk1 /2 items ,minus the head rest, in their old english sportscars etc. as they look period and are narrow enough to fit those older cars .
Ill take the seats out of the mk2 and see how they fit and I'll be back with the results . :mrgreen:
Brian
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Re: Replacing bongo seats for MX5 seats i

Post by Merlot man » Wed Mar 08, 2017 1:22 pm

Hello all
I've been working on this project last night , first of all the mk2 mx5 English spec (removable headrests ) seats are what I'm working with .
On the passenger side all I needed to do was replace the left side mx5 runner for the bongo runner and it fits , in the mk2 the seatbelt keeper is on the runner so this helps make it simpler .
Drivers side is not so easy , I used the same idea and while the runners on their own I think will line up front to back they seem too wide by about 20/25 mm ie on the seat itself , so either mod the runner or the bolt locations on the engine lid ,also the seat is off centre in relation to the steering wheel but modding the runners /mounting locations would help this . Maybe the best path to take is relocating the mounting holes on the engine cover and re plating and bolting the inside runner to these .
If I do this I'm hoping to use the mx5 mk2.5 seats , leather and heated but with moulded in headrests , the cloth versions also look good but I'm not sure if there heated or not .
As always all sugestions or advice is more than welcome
Thanks
Brian
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Re: Replacing bongo seats for MX5 seats i

Post by Bongolia » Wed Mar 08, 2017 1:58 pm

Merlot man wrote:Hello all
I've been working on this project last night , first of all the mk2 mx5 English spec (removable headrests ) seats are what I'm working with .
On the passenger side all I needed to do was replace the left side mx5 runner for the bongo runner and it fits , in the mk2 the seatbelt keeper is on the runner so this helps make it simpler .
Drivers side is not so easy , I used the same idea and while the runners on their own I think will line up front to back they seem too wide by about 20/25 mm ie on the seat itself , so either mod the runner or the bolt locations on the engine lid ,also the seat is off centre in relation to the steering wheel but modding the runners /mounting locations would help this . Maybe the best path to take is relocating the mounting holes on the engine cover and re plating and bolting the inside runner to these .
If I do this I'm hoping to use the mx5 mk2.5 seats , leather and heated but with moulded in headrests , the cloth versions also look good but I'm not sure if there heated or not .
As always all sugestions or advice is more than welcome
Thanks
Brian
Helpful.
I didnt realise there where the built in headrest type,those wouldn't work for me as I need them to recline onto the squab of the rear seats.
These are what I have been looking at,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAZDA-MX5-Fro ... SwOgdYvJze
Is this the type you are using? If yes could you give me the height measurement of the back sans headrest please.
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Re: Replacing bongo seats for MX5 seats i

Post by Merlot man » Wed Mar 08, 2017 4:17 pm

Hello Bongolia
Yes there are the ones only mine are leather.
The head rest comes off as you can imagine on the English mk1 and mk2 mx5 , the jap import cars have a "tumb stone " style seat , I have both so will measure them tonight , also as far as I'm aware they will not recline as flat as the bongo seats so this might be a problem . I still have the passenger seat fitted so I'll photograph it as well fully reclined .
Brian
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Re: Replacing bongo seats for MX5 seats i

Post by Merlot man » Wed Mar 08, 2017 5:36 pm

So I've just got to looking at those seats and the measurement for the back of the seat without the head rest is 570 mm the same as the bongo origanal , it doesn't fold down flat
Image

Image

Sorry about the quality of the photo but this is it fully folded back
Hope this helps , if you need anything else please let me know
Brian
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Re: Replacing bongo seats for MX5 seats i

Post by Bongolia » Wed Mar 08, 2017 7:43 pm

Thanks Brian
A lucky escape!
The fully reclining thing was something I hadn't thought of. :roll:
No full recline = no good!
So I will go with the pair of extra Bongo OE front seats instead.
This what I am aiming at.
https://goo.gl/photos/gqwvrmhRDMB7aYwK8
Cheers.
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Re: Replacing bongo seats for MX5 seats i

Post by Merlot man » Wed Mar 08, 2017 11:05 pm

I must say I like the look and comfort of the mx5 seats but they don't go flat , I've just looked at the bongo seats and they go full horizontal !
Also the 5 seats are more bolstered so not as good to sleep on ......we will see ....
Our bus has a rock and roll bed so thats our sleeping sorted so I might at some time go for the mx5 items
Wasp is looking good I must say , I see your insulating the sides , do you mind me asking what your using and are you fitting it to the inside of the outer panel ? I'm thinking g of doing this myself at some stage when time allows :D
Brian
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Re: Replacing bongo seats for MX5 seats i

Post by Merlot man » Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:43 pm

Hello all
A very good friend of mine how breaks mx5's has just got a 2.5 in with leather heated seats + switches and relays for €240 ...... I could not say no , so this project could still be on
If not I'll fit them to one of the '5's
Would people recommend modding the rails or the engine cover to help the drivers seat to fit ?
As always thank you all for your advice abs help
Brian
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