K. Rallycross Miata Seat Foamectomy

Then the cover screws on the other side were removed.

Now the cover was maneuvered to allow access to the side bracket bolts so they could be removed.

This tab kept the cover in place on top. So getting the cover to move was difficult.

This bushing was removed first to allow the plastic cover to be removed.

I removed the hog rings with pliers and saved them to re-install later.

Once all the hog rings were removed, I pushed the cover off the frame to expose the foam.

Now the seat foam and cover was removed from the seat frame.

An electric knife works well to cut the foam. However, there are some wires and hog rings buried in the foam. I used an old electric knife that I got at a garage sale. Cutting into the wire will quickly dull the blades.

The first cut was removal of the section of foam that fits into the lower indention in the seat frame.

This goal is to remove the lump and leave this wire. If I had cut on the other side of the wire, I would have been hitting a section of the seat cover that holds the center of the seat cover into the foam. It would have just made removing the foam harder.

Then I placed the cut off foam section back into the frame. It will be kept in the seat.

The next step was to begin to remove the foam from the center of the seat. It may be hard to see, but scroll down and see the section that was removed if it is not clear now.

From the rear of the seat, a wire that runs across the rear of the seat had to be cut to allow the foam to be separated from the seat.

Once the wire was cut, the side foam was cut being careful not to cut the green foam, or seat cover. There is a wire running parallel along the sides up that the seat cover is tied to with hog rings. The cut was made just to the inside of this wire so the wire can remain in the seat when done. This way the seat cover stays attached to the foam that will be left in the seat.

The front of the seat foam was cut the same way...just inside of the wire that holds the front of the seat to the foam.

These rings along this wire were cut to allow the seat cover to release from the foam being removed.

Here it is more evident how the foam was being removed.

The wire on the other side in the back of the seat had to be cut just as before.

Then the cut was made along the inside of the side wire, again being careful not to cut the green foam, or seat cover.

Also, the wire running across the seat near the middle got in the way of the cut, so the wire was cut loose from the side foam.

Now the foam could be removed.

The remaining foam originally slipped over the lip of the of the metal frame. Since foam was still to be removed from the bottom section as can be seen below, the groove was cut deeper along the sides and front of the seat following the original groove.

Now I marked in green the section of foam to be removed. Then I cut the foam along this side, the front and the other side being careful to maintain the same depth of cut.

This is the section of foam removed from the bottom.

This is how the seat looks now that the foam was removed.

Now the seat cover and foam was re-installed onto the metal frame. The foam cut off at the beginning was kept in the frame so the seat cover sat on it.

The seat cover was then pulled back over the frame and the hog rings were re-installed.

Now I put the back onto the seat.

The foam that was removed is quite a bit more than what I have seen in other methods for a foamectomy. This is what was removed.

Time will tell if the seat cover will hold up, but I believe it will. It may be a little loose, but it seems to be just fine. I like the seat this way since the bolsters are still pretty much intact.

I still have to install the seat rails, but that is pretty straight forward so I did not document that.

Now my son and I can ride in the Rallycross Miata together!