I am at the point of redoing/replacing my front seats. The frame of both seats are very restorable...just some rust to remove and then coat. However, the upholstry is shot as well as the padding is old. So, is it more cost effective to trash the seats and buy new or get the old ones redone? I was looking at the procar rally seats at $300 per seat and about got sick!

I think just the bottoms go for about 100 each and to have them recovered is about 5-600. That alone sets you back about 700. For about 1000-12 you could get new ones + shipping. the back foam can't be bought. They would have to make it or use other back foam from another seat.

Thanks Brady....now I am even more sick.....Damn, that's a lot of money! I redid my whole suspension and steering for less than 2 seats

you could buy used seats. But inside these seats they are so rusty. There's more rust there than anywhere else on the car. Even the rust sticks to the foam. Plus you won't know if the seats have the normal bend to the one side.

I will see what I can do with my current seats. Maybe just fix them up and get some nice seat covers!

Here's a time-intensive, budget scenario:
Remove seats from car.
Remove covers from seats. See this article.
Clean, repair, restore (re-dye) leather and maybe vinyl, if req'd. See this article
Brace up and generally fix seat frames and bottom pans and/or webbing.
Re-use existing foam, adding carefully where needed to get side bolsters beefed back up, etc. (Replace with new seat bottoms if they are really, really shot, but probably keep passenger side, replace or fix driver's side). See this article and also here
Install DIY heated seat wiring
Put it all back together.

There's a lot of good, helpful info on the web to get you up to your eyeballs in alligators with a project like this.


Or, install used Miata seats, or others you may find that fit; remove existing rails and re-position new as required.
Some Miata seats have speakers in the headrests.

Divers wrote:I am at the point of redoing/replacing my front seats. The frame of both seats are very restorable...just some rust to remove and then coat. However, the upholstry is shot as well as the padding is old. So, is it more cost effective to trash the seats and buy new or get the old ones redone? I was looking at the procar rally seats at $300 per seat and about got sick!

I'm in the same boat. I thought I was going to get off reasonably OK with having them re-done but I'm looking at $450+ for the covers (front only) and was just quoted $75 per hour with an 8 hour estimate to re-cover them! And that's without any extras like filling out the foam, etc! So I looked at the pro rally site and like them. If they are $300 each I'll be in Heaven! That's a huge bargain compared to what I have been seeing. Did you find out if any of their models will fit our cars ('78 Spider)?

My understanding is that the procar rally seats fit.

A lot of these seats out there to me look funny because they sit too high. My 2 cents.

azygoustoyou wrote:A lot of these seats out there to me look funny because they sit too high. My 2 cents.

There are a couple that look almost indistinguishable from stock 124 seats.

I got 1969 seats off Craigslist for $25 each. They look great but have a couple rips. Going to get them repaired and installed. The seats that came with my car are in GREAT shape with the exception of mold and dryness on the leather portion. I just plan on working with the metal I have, fixing rust etc. I really like the look of the 69 seats over my 81 seats.

Also, if the procar seats are the ones I saw in a thread earlier today, they look REALLY cool. I'd hate to spend the money but I'm sure I"d love the result. I also agree though, high seats are not quite as aesthetically pleasing as the proper height seat.

jimmycakes401 wrote:I got 1969 seats off Craigslist for $25 each. They look great but have a couple rips. Going to get them repaired and installed. The seats that came with my car are in GREAT shape with the exception of mold and dryness on the leather portion. I just plan on working with the metal I have, fixing rust etc. I really like the look of the 69 seats over my 81 seats.

I thought I was going to be lucky. My car's been a Nor-Cal car all its life and seldom exposed to rust causing conditions. I found some on the floor behind both seats, nothing a $100 plate and weld job can't fix. Not bad for 33 years. But when I opened up the seats last night, dang, they are pretty bad. Driver's pan has a 5" long split in the metal and is heavily rusted. Passenger side is intact but again, heavily rusted. I don't why. I will assume that when caught in the rain with the top down, the foam of the seats acts like a sponge and it just sits there and rots.

I have a good set of bottom cushions that had a small tear on the one. I used some spray adhesive and it wouldn't be noticeable once covered. In case someone wants them $30 + shipping. Just PM me

SanRafaelFaz wrote:

azygoustoyou wrote:A lot of these seats out there to me look funny because they sit too high. My 2 cents.

There are a couple that look almost indistinguishable from stock 124 seats.

Just heard from the Procare people. Front seats for my '78 are as follows:

The Low back 1400 series @ $ 220.00 per seat
and Pro 90 1300 series seats @ $ 249.00per seat

The 124 spider seat mounts # 81242 are 77.95 per seat and
these take 3 weeks to have made.

Plus shipping of $ 55.00,
plus 8.75 % sales tax.
So for 2 seats, 2 brackets, tax (Ca.) & shipping

Low back total = $ 703.04

Pro 90 total = $ 766.12

All in all, brand new seats for almost 1/2 of what it would cost me to buy new covers and have them installed on my old frames by a pro.