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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Another seat option

Seat swaps is a topic that comes up quite often. If you are considering an MGF or MX5 seat swap, there is another option you might consider and that I had not heard or seen of being done before.

They are from a mk. 3 Toyota MR2. It needs a little cutting and welding to the bases, but it is a pretty simple swap.

They get you noticeably lower in the car and are much more supportive.

and yes, they come in other colours than red!

Cheers all.
Malc.




Malcolm Le Chevalier

Malc they look great. I like the colour too!
Rob Armstrong

That looks like a good fit for the midget, and probably cheaper/quicker/easier than getting existing sets refurbished ?

C MADGE

Well... I paid £5.99* for the pair, and about £10 for some steel to convert them. It required about an hours work wet vac-ing each one (they were filthy, and still have a few marks that I can't get out) and a couple of hours on each doing the cutting, drilling, welding and painting of the bases.

Cheers,
Malc.

* I won the auction for £5.99 as the only bidder. I gave the guy £20 out of sympathy as they are worth more than that!
Malcolm Le Chevalier

Maybe its the angle of the photo but they just dont look in keeping with the car to me but cant fault going for them at that price.

Trev
T Mason

Blimey, bargain.

So you used the original mounting holes in the floor then?
C MADGE

Yeah, I know they won't be to everyone's taste Trev, but everyone enjoys their cars differently. For me the original seats weren't good enough for some vigorous hill climbing!

Conversion was a couple of 30mm x 2mm steel strips welded between the rails. The mounting holes are about 50mm (each side) inboard of the originals. I forget the exact measurement.

Handily enough, when you cut the old mounting brackets off you are left with four locating spigots that are perfectly spaced for lining up the new strips.

Welded bolts into the front two holes for easier installation.

The last bit to note is that there are plastic bits that cover the adjustment mechanisms on both sides that need removing as they don't fit with them on. You still have rake and reach adjustment, but the height adjustment is no longer usable.



Malcolm Le Chevalier

Initially I did wonder if they were seats from a very old Smart, which were according to my wife very comfortable seats.

As always it's each to their own, Trev put what I thought. Personally I don't think any more-modern style integral-headrest seat suits the car but I'm a short-arse so prefer small seats.

Refurbishing existing seats isn't cheap and getting seats that are comfortable for the driver (and passenger) is nowhere near as easy as it should be.

I tried to get some aftermarket seats built for my GT6 but gave up in the end and had the existing seats fully and properly refurbished at great cost to shortly after give up on the car.

Well done Malc on your find and work though.
Nigel Atkins

I can understand changing them for hill climbing but think I would use a classic bucket seat. How come you have not changed the seatbelts?

Trev
T Mason

I have installed new belts, but I have kept them as standard three point belts as it is primarily a road car, secondly a track and climb toy.
Malcolm Le Chevalier

Excellent bargain Malcolm! I thought my MGF leather seats at £10 were pretty good value, but those are even better! Actually mine were £8.90 as I found some small change down the backs when I dismantled them, so yours could be even less - have you looked?

I never actually bolted them down but I trial fitted leather seats from an Alfa 156 and being of Italian design they are very slim and fitted very nicely. They were also very light, so that's another option someone may like to try. Alfa 147s use the same seat so they should be cheap and easy to find for a few years.
GuyW

Guy, I did find a pound coin in one of them. Although it's an old one so not readily spendable! ha ha.
Malcolm Le Chevalier

You gone soft now you've moved down soouth :-)
Plenty of support in the originals if your core has been worked doing more welding on the floor lol

Best of....
MGmike
M McAndrew

Mike, I do pilates once a week, you don't need to worry about my core! ha ha. (Yeah... you might be right about the soft bit!) But even that didn't prepare me for a day on track. Every right hander I ended up sat in the passenger seat and by the end of the day my back was ruined!

Malc.
Malcolm Le Chevalier

Malc, I assume you are using inertia belts then. Personally I find that if you dont want to go down the full harness route static belts do a pretty good job of keeping you in the right place. I never seems right to me to put inertias in an old car.

Trev
T Mason

It's surprising how much easier they are to drive fast with a decent seat in. And with a full harness, there's no need to hang off the wheel (saves on that bush!) or brace with your knees.

Very good mod for track stuff.
Rob Armstrong

Agreed. I have full (Securon) harnesses even in my road car. They're a faff initially because I have to buckle up before closing the door but I've learned to love them.
Not a fan of inertial belts.
Edit: like the seats. But mine get wet a lot so maybe not.
Greybeard

This thread was discussed between 20/11/2018 and 22/11/2018

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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