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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Race seat

Dear members

I would like to fit a proper race seat to my rally midget but it is hard to find a suitable one because space is very limited. Any ideas or experience?
Thank you very much

Thomas
TvK von Kreisler

Sparco is my favourite.

Gives lots of room for the driver compared with others that I tried.


Dave O'Neill2

Dave

Thank you very much for the picture - nice car. Which Sparco is it?

Thank you very much
TvK von Kreisler

Has anyone tired a Kirkey seat?
TvK von Kreisler

From memory, it was the Monte Carlo.
Dave O'Neill2

I'm looking for a seat too and have been considering the Sparco Sprint 5 which seems to be the cheapest seat from a reputable make. Second choice at the moment is the OMP TRS. These are both currently on offer from JJS bundled with mounts.

Has anyone tried either of these in a Spridget and are there any problems fitting them?

Colin
Colin Mee

I had an OMP in a Midget.

I can't remember the model, but it was too narrow for me and put me too close to the steering wheel.
Dave O'Neill2

Don't bother with a Cobra Monaco either, at least not in a Frogeye.
frogeye Gary

got an OMP in mine; I can't remember the model either but it's fine for the smaller build. Not that I'm a whippet you understand, just vertically challenged compared to Dave O'.
David Smith

I'm pretty sure it was Sparco Sprint 5 that I tried in my midget - they fit but are very obviously a race seat and a little 'shouty' for my taste. Iv got some OMP (Model ECO) to fit in mine now although they were second hand and race date expired.

The key is to get a narrow enough seat. From memory the seats cannot be wider at 'shoulder' than 53cm to physically get 2 seats in a midget. Note that isn't the same as the seat base width. I'm sure you could get a Kirkey (probably lighter than the steel framed Sparco or OMP) to fit since there is a wide choice available.
Johnathan

Cobra seven are a good fit in the midget/sprite.
There are alot of them in spridgets already.
In my eye they still look a bit classic and not to racy.
Great fit, tryed it in Loyds Kmidget.




Arie de Best

Only downside to me was that the backrest is not able to change in different angle.
So you have to position it on the right angle on the floor when fitting it.


Arie de Best

I use Sparco Sprint 5. It's a good fit with the roll cage but heavy at 9kg. Quite a few people use Caterham or Tillett - light but expensive. I believe Tillett now also do a stronger ?double skinned version (A scrutineer told me a few years ago they had seen some breakages in accidents)

If for racing without hard top and if at all vertically challenged (tall) need to have bottom mounted seat mounted as low as possible to keep head under the roll cage. see blue book. I (and a few others) have had to lower the floor pan to help with this.


Mark Lister

My Sparco was floor mounted, but I still had to put tape on the inside of the hardtop, so that I didn't scrape my crash helmet.

I wouldn't have got away with racing topless without adding a piece to the rollcage.
Dave O'Neill2

Hi Dave,

I used to run the added hoop for years, but talking to some scrutineers they point out they have never been legal. I have noticed there are far less around than there used to be. I've cut mine off and lowered the floor in the current rebuild to avoid disappointment in case they have a purge. I'm still marginal on the required 5cm gap below the roll bar even at my dizzy height of 5'11", but nothing else I can do if I still want to be able to replace the hard top occasionally.
Mark Lister

We run a Tillet Seat similar to the one that they've now FIA Homologated and we even did some crash testing for them with a Human (okay it was Nev so maybe not!) occupant.

After the old car was barrel rolled (5 times) we took it back to Tillet for inspection and they did a thorough examination of it and only suggested we added some of the new harness slot rubbers to protect the belts and they declared it fit for use again.

They could easily have said no and I'd have bought another seat from them.

They certainly get my vote and I imagine Nev's also as there wasnt much that was salvageable from that particular incident.

A
Andrew McGee

Another vote for the Sparco Sprint I've been using one for a couple of years now


I Beningfield

Arie

I like those... very smart looking

Like you said, its not overly racey, and yet it looks like it can do the job...im certianly a fan

Prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Hi

Any further recommendations and advice for selecting a driver's race seat please for hill climb and sprint use in the UK? The above info on models and key dimensions is very useful.

Car is a 1961 948cc MkII Sprite, being built as budget classic car roadgoing class; aiming eventually to echo in a minor way the Sebring cars: http://sebringsprite.com/mark2sebrings.html. (Got one of these 'Warwick MkII' hardtops for sale? - very scruffy and cheap, call!)

Standard seats at the moment (Frogeye/MkII bucket seats with folding rear back), so ideally would like something that looks period and does not clash too much with the standard passenger seat while keeping me safe, I can fit in (I am not super slim and 6' tall) and meeting the regs (will I need an FIA seat?). I have an old Corbeau GT8 highback bucket in the shed which came out of my old Talbot Sunbeam (mmmm, nice 1970s vibe!).

I do realise I should be thinking of a different car as well as personal improvement!

Can will have a rear roll cage (Aleybars with removeable diagonal) and hardtop fitted when running in competition.

I had wondered about locking the rear of the standard seat so it did not fold and fitting a helmet crash pad to the rear roll cage. Or fitting an aftermarket low back bucket seat and helmet crash pad (such as a Healey Speed Equipment seat favoured in Sebring Sprites, or Cobra/Corbeau Classic/OMP Silverstone). Or a Ridgard? Healey seats, see: http://sebringsprite.com/9253wd.html

I guess the sensible thing to do is fit one of the modern competition highback seats referred to above and do not worry about what it looks like. Or perhaps an MGF or Mazda MX5 seat?

Thoughts please?

Cheers
Mike

M Wood

MX5 seats are fairly high from the floor, most MX5 punters pull the bottom cushion out and slice a heap of foam off to get them a bit lower but end up with something else like a Lotus Elise seat

willy
William Revit

Personally I would go for a 'proper' seat. It will hold you securely. I assume you are fitting a 4/5 point harness and the modern seat will accommodate this more effectively.
Bob Beaumont

Mike

I have a Sparco Sprint. I went for it partly on price and partly on size, it's one of the narrowest available which gives a bit more flexibility in positioning it. Had I realised that the Cobras are made just up the road I would probably have gone for one of theirs as it was a toss up between the two.

I'm a bit shorter than you (5'11") and, on the standard seat, with helmet on, I the top of my helmet was proud of the roll-over bar. The Sparco seat is bolted direct to the floor at the back but raised by 1" at the front to rake it back slightly to give maximum distance between seat and wheel and lower my head a tiny bit more.

If you want the right look, Demon Tweeks have a number of classic style seats; none of them have an integral high back though some have a head-restraint. They also lack the side protection for the head of the modern seats and the shoulder support, which really improves things on the track.
http://www.demon-tweeks.com/uk/motorsport/seats-harnesses/

Fortunately DT is only about half an hour away from us so I was able to visit and sit in a few to try them for size. Wrexham's a bit far from Strathclyde for a trail fitting but I would recommend trying a few for size and comfort before buying if at all possible.

Colin
C Mee

My hillclimber has a similar seat to Colin’s Sparco Sprint, it’s just about perfect for a Midget. If you are building something that looks like an original competition car then the modern buckets do look a bit out of place though.

If you are going to go for a low back seat and use a head pad on your roll bar then you could look at one of the small fibreglass buckets or even an aluminium one. You can get covers for some of them that make them look a bit ‘classic’.

A good seat that holds you tight is always going to be the best option but I can understand why you would want to keep an early car looking in period.

If you don’t find a Warwick hardtop then I could do you a good deal on an original BMC Mk2 Sprite hardtop for your car!
John Payne

I'm still agonising over seat choice. Being on the tall side I need something as thin and low as possible. Most seats seem to hit the roll cage upright and/or pivot on the rear edge forcing the set too fr up.
I had a close look at some Tillet seats at Autosport and they look hopeful.
Clive Berry

Clive, Lotus elise seats are thin and might give extra legroom.
Dont know if anyone has fitted them in a midget?
A frogtunnel is wider the a midget proptunnel so will fit less.

Anyone you know with a elise to do some messurements?
A de Best

Arie

That's interesting info about the Frog tunnel being wider than later models - it is amazing what you learn on this BBS! I wonder why? Was the smooth case gearbox remote larger?

Thanks
Mike
M Wood

The Lotus Elise seats are quite low, probably an inch and a half lower than an MX5 seat and quite narrow--MX5's have more of a width problem than Sprites where most seats are too wide, the Lotus seats fit well so I reckon they'd fit a Sprite easy
Another choice for MX5ers here is the Bride Low max seat
Fairly expensive but there's a few about on ebay
Don't know if they're available over your way-
I like the look of the Lotus seats better though they're a lot thinner and lower so if you're a tall fella they would sit you down and back further


I couldn't get comfortable in my hillclimber and ended up reworking the back cross panel to let the seatback into it about an inch or so, made a hell of a difference
Bit hard to see in this pic but the cutout went back to where that joint in the panel is, I cut along the joint for about 12", tapped the panel back to suit the shape of the seat, cut the edge straight again with an angle grinder and then welded the edge up straight along that original joint line



William Revit

This thread was discussed between 26/11/2013 and 09/06/2020

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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