Mazda Miata Leather Seats Installation Guide

If you're reading this, it is safe to say that you have chosen to install your own Miata leather interior. Or, perhaps you're curious as to the difficulty level of installing a LeatherSeats.com auto upholstery kit. Either way, this comprehensive guide to Miata leather installation will make your installation as easy as 1-2-3.

First, the tools you will need to install the interior. You will need the following:

The first step to install your new Miata leather interior is to remove your seats from the vehicle. On the Miata, each of the front seats are held in by four (4) bolts. These bolts are located at the ends of the seat rails. Move the seat all the way back to reveal the front two bolts. They might be covered by small black caps. Then, move the seat all the way forward. You will see two more bolts that also might be covered by little black plastic caps. Simply remove the bolts, and tip the seat backwards to check for electrical connections. Almost every seat will have some wiring harnesses on the bottom connecting to the floor of the vehicle. Unplug the connectors, and then remove the seat from the vehicle. (If your vehicle is equipped with Side Impact Air Bags, unbolt both seats first, then move them to the center of the seat rails, then disconnect the battery before you unplug the harnesses under the seat.) Make sure to save all bolts, screws, and other parts for reassembly.

After removing the seats from the car, you will need to disassembled the seats a little further to fully reupholster them. To do this, you will need to take the plastics off of each side of the seat and remove all the bolts that you find underneath. Firstly, you need to remove the reclining mechanisms handle which is just held by pressure; do this by pulling with even constant pressure on the handle until to comes loose. Once the handle is removed you can take a Phillips head screwdriver and remove the three (3) screws you will find holding on the plastic trim pieces. The plastic trim pieces are removed by sliding them off of their respective metal brackets. The inside plastic trim piece will simply slide up and off it's bracket whereas with the outside trim pieces, the top piece will slide up and off and the bottom piece will slide forward before unclipping. With the plastic trim pieces removed, you can now see the bolts that hold the seatback to the cushion. Simply unbolt these and the two sections will now be seperated.

Above: Outside Side plastics. Note the two (2) Phillips head screws and reclinder handle.	Above: Inside Side Plastics. Note the single Phillips head screw holding the plastic piece.	Above: Outside Side Plastics removed. Note the four (4) bolts holding the backrest and cushion together as one piece.

Seat Cushion (Bottom):

After the seats have been seperated, flip the cushion piece over so that the of the cushion is facing you. There are four (4) bolts that hold the frame rails to the seat bottom. Unbolt and remove the seat frame rails from the seat. With the frame rails removed, you now have access to the hog-rings that hold the upholstery to the seat bucket.. There are about fifteen (15) hog-rings around the perimeter of the seat cushion pan that hold the edge of the factory cloth/leather to the seat cushion pan. Remove these with a pair of tin snips or metal cutters.

Above: Bottom of the seat cushion pan. Note the hog-rings that hold the upholstery to the pan.	Above: Bottom of the seat cushion pan with frame rail bolts exposed. Note the frame rail bolts.	Above: Seat cushion foam removed. Note the two verical hog-ring listings and the horizontal insert hog-ring listing.

Now lift the edges of the factory cloth or leather cover up around the edges of the seat and towards the center of the seat, revealing the insert seam lines. The inserts use about eighteen (18) hog-rings to attach the covers to the foam core. Snip them and remove the cover. The installation of the Leatherseats.com covers is the reverse of removal. Start with the horizontal hog-ring point that is across the insert, and then move to the edges. After you have recovered the foam core and seat pan, set it aside and start on the backrest.

Above: Factory cloth cover rolled back to expose the factory headrest zipper.	Above: Factory cloth cover unzipped to expose the headrest and removable foam insert.	Above: Factory cloth cover unzipped exposing the hog-ring listing wire location.

Backrest (top):

Firstly, we will start with the headrest area. There is a seam that is folded over a zipper at the very top of the headrest. Unzip the headrest and then fold the cover down both sides of the headrest. You will find a hard piece of foam that covers the headrest speakers and that is removable. Remove the foam and just below you will find a set of three (3) hog-rings. Clip these three hog-rings and then leave the headrest area alone for the time being.

Now flip the backrest so that the bottom edge that was touching the cushion is exposed and you will see the three (3) hog-rings that pinch the back and front of the cover closed. Remove these hog-rings and the insert section of the backrest should be free. Slowly lift the insert section up looking for any hog-rings that are keeping it attached. Once the insert section is inverted and flipped so that the back is exposed you should see about six (6) hog-rings which hold the cover to the insert foam. Clip these hog-rings and any others you might find holding the insert foam to the cover. Once this is done the insert should be completely free.

Now that the insert is free you can focus on the rest of the backrest. With the insert gone, you should be able to see a set of hog-rings along the inside of each of the bolsters. These hog-rings must be cut and you should be free to roll the cover up the backrest until you reach the top of the insert where you will find more hog-rings around the top arc of the insert. Clip all of these and you should be able to simply slide the cover up and off of the seat. The installation of the Leatherseats.com covers is the reverse of removal. An important note here is that you would do exactly the opposite except that you need to fit the whole cover without hog-ringing the headrest area until the very end when you can unzip and follow the same procedure as before.

Above: Bottom edge of the backrest where the backrest meets the cushion. Note the hog-rings that hold the back of the cover to the front insert cover.	Above: Seat insert folded back to expose the hog-rings that hold the insert.. Note the hog-rings all along the edges of the insert..	Above: Backrest cover rolled up and clipping factory hog-ring. Note that the hog-rings are located along the inside of the bolsters.

The final step is to put everything back into the car. Be careful when installing the seats that you don't scrape any plastic or the door panels with the bottom of the seat, as the seat rails are sharp and will damage any plastic or vinyl they come in contact with. After the seats are re-installed, it is a good idea to condition the leather and massage any wrinkles that are in the leather. Sometimes there will be a few wrinkles left, but after sitting in the sun for a couple weeks and being used; the covers will fit much better.

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