the problem: (ive mostly seen it on the turbo seats) is that the foam sits on a bar, and what happens is that the bar cuts thru the foam. theres a couple ways to fix it depending on how bad it is.







1. if the foam is ok, ie not all the way thru/otherwise damaged, you can peel the seat cover back remove the foam (the bolsters are seperate on the t2 seats) and repair the foam with something like duct tape. this will keep the bar from cutting into the foam, and keep the foam in the right shape. remember to be smooth on the outside, as you will be able to see wrinkles. make sure to smooth out the inside of the bolster fabric and put it back together, it should look like new



2. get some new foam (mazda does not sell the bolsters) and make a new one. i would still recommend using duct tape to keep the bar from cutting into the foam



its not that hard to do it just takes a little time, and the hog rings are a pain if you dont have the right tool (i dont), i have used this with sucess several times, so have fun

 

Thanks! I feel like I'm reading Tom Yang's stuff. My foam looks like if fell off the side, I'll have to see if I can fix it like that.

 

Yeah, thanks for this. I've wanted to fix this for a while but wasn't sure how possible it was. All I needed was someone to say it's possible! Appreciate it greatly.



Redwood

"Weekend plans solidified"

 

Hog rings and pliers are pretty easy to use, just not something every backyard mechainic has. using a good pair of needle nose vise grips or pliers will get them off, just be gentle and try not to rip them through the fabric. putting them back on (use new ones if possible) is a little more tricky, make sure you have a set of safety glasses on when trying to install them. They shoot pretty good out of a regulare set of pliers.

 

Thanks! that's the only thing wrong with my interior*.....and now I can fix it!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

*beside the fact that I'm not in it...

 

I saw a writeup by a Miata guy who did some work to his seat and repalced the rings with zipties with good results. I'll probably try that just to keep with the theme of my car

 

lol, thats funny. the mazda hog rings arent springy at all they are like a clothes hanger or something. ive had no trouble reusing em, and i dont have the right tools

 

cool, I paid someone like $25 to fix the ripped bolster on the GXL I had.

he matched the fabric/vinyl pretty damm good too!

 

Something else to consider when repairing the bolster. What I did was buy used passenger seat from the local pick-and-pull. It was far from pretty but the bolsters on the right side of the seat were in good shape. I took the foam out of the passenger seat and used it to rebuild my drivers seat. No duct tape required, but there was more labor. I try to avoid duct tape if i can, and large hammers.

 

I think I'll eventually do that. I took the vinyl from a crap seat, and saved it to fix mine. I just never got around to fixing it.