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MG MGA - Reclining seats

OK - I know this is going to open a can of worms. I am rebuilding my Coupe to make it driveable by my wife. (She has not driven the roadster in the 20+ years we have owned it.) I am therefore looking for replacement seats that have an adjustable back, so she can find a position that allows her to reach the pedals. (I was going to fit blocks of wood to her feet, but she rejected that idea.)
I have been looking at aftermarket seats, like the "Sportsman Recliner" from Holden Vintage and Clasic in the UK, and wonder if anyone has fitted these, or other, aftermarket seats in their MGA?
The problem is that the maximum seat width that will fit, acoding to my measurements, is 18" wide, and even that would be a tight fit. Many new seats are wider than this.
I was going to rebuild the existing coupe seats, but this does not solve the back adjustment issue. So what havepeople found that fits and works in this tight space?
Thanks, Peter.
P.S. Does anyone know who makes this seat for Holden? I want to get a quote for a fabric covered seat.
P. Tilbury

Peter,

I am not sure about the fit but my might check out some Classic Mini factory reclining seats from a '70's Mini. They are hard to find in the US but are available. This is a link to a reproduction manufacturer in UK:
http://www.newtoncomm.co.uk/cars/mini/product.jsp?ref=506&model=0

Jim
Jim Ferguson

Peter,
You can fit a wedge of wood under the seat rails, raising the front up and tilting the back of the seat reaward slightly. I have done this to my roadster to fit me better. I aslo added 2" to my pedals so that my wife could drive it. She has driven it exactly twice in the last eight years. Hardly worth the bother. Ask yourself if your wife would really drive it enough to be worth the trouble?
Ed Bell

Peter,
Like Ed posted I added a wedge under the MGA seats to recline them slighty. It raised the front 1 1/2" and really made a lot of difference in long drives. It just takes longer bolts in the front attachment. Image attached:


Jim Ferguson

Jim,
Does your wife drive the car? I think my wife would need the seatback more upright than normal. She has shorter arms than me (and shorter legs).
Peter.
P. Tilbury

Shorter legs bring the seat forward. With the seat all the way forward most bellies rub the wheel. Tilting the seat backwards allows distance from steering wheel but closeness with pedals. If a comfortable distance from wheel leaves you too far from the pedals then the pedals need blocks.
R J Brown

Peter,

Yes my wife does drive the car occasionally. She is about the same size as I am.

She does not share the sheer enjoyment of driving an MGA that overcomes the lack of modern comforts in the seating.

Jim
Jim Ferguson

While we're on the subject... I would like to figure out a way of making the pedals easily adjustable so my wife can drive the roaster also. She's short enough that leaning the seat back would make it difficult to see and the pedals would still be out of her reach. Any of you engineer types come up with a workable solution?

Randy Myers
'59 roadster
Randy Myers

Peter, one of the problems that I had fitting the seat rails was that the 4 floor bolt holes in the floor were not in the same plane. Therefore when you fitted the seat rails it was very hard to move the seat. I shimmed each bolt hole as best I could to make them all in the same plane. I then added another 1/2" of shims to the front holes so that the seat was reclined a little more than standard. This makes for a more normal driving position, and the seat moves better.

If you stay with the standard seats, check that the foam that goes into the seat basket is not higher than the basket. Mine was originally 1/4" higher and made the seat feel very high and that I was sitting on top of the seat rather than in the seat. I cut 1/4" off the bottom of the seat foam with an electric carving knife and now love the new seating position.

On the pedals, I found that the accelerator and brake pedal were too close together. I couldn't push the accelarator with brushing the side of the brake pedal. To fix this I bent the clutch pedal crank over 1/4", the brake pedal crank over 1/8" and cut and rewelded the face of the brake pedal over 1/4" towards the clutch. Everything is now fine and your legs are stretched out nicely so you don't get leg cramps. If you added any type of pad to the face of the pedals I think it would make it uncomfortable to drive for you because your legs would be bent more than normal.


Andy Preston

Randy,
Maybe your wife is more agreeable than mine was to having blocks fitted to her feet? LOL. Seriously, if she has to see the pedals to drive the car, you might not want to be nearby. Making the pedals adjustable would take a lot of modifications, and there probably is not the space to add all the machanical bits needed.
R.J.,
Yes belly and boobs would be a problem.
Andy,
Th only mod I made to the roadster pedals was to bend the acceerator pedal away from the tunnel a bit - the new underlay and carpet was too thick. Also fitted new foams to both seats, but went back to the old Dunlop material in my seat as I did not like looking "over" the windscreen, and my legs rubbed on the underside of the steering wheel. The new foam was OK on the wife's side as she is shoter in the body.
Cheers, Peter.
P. Tilbury

Wow, I'm surprised that anyone is too short to drive an MGA. I have my seat back all the way (the back is even with the edge of the tonneau, and rests against the forward wall of the battery box) and I still have to sit splayed-legged to drive it. If I could have had Mr. Enever's ear during the design process, I'd have said "Ferchrissake, Syd, add two or three inches of legroom!"
David Breneman

Peter, I haven't seen them in a MGA but the midget and B guys have had good fits with the Miata or Fiero seats, either of them should work in a MGA as far as the width goes. The stock tracks from them should allow for enough travel to get her up to the pedals and the reclining function would get her away from the steering wheel a bit. I'm like David, way too tall and long legged to fit well, but I know people like your wife, probably long in the body and short legs so I can understand her problem. The main problem with most seat adjustments is that the further forward the higher the front of the seat gets and that often leads to belly rub on a large steering wheel. You may have to consider an aftermarket wheel to give her a bit more room with the seat up.
Bill Young

I have been told that Fiero seats fit in an MGA...but I haven't been able to find one at a wreckers to look at them.

JIM
AJ Mail

This thread was discussed between 12/03/2010 and 17/03/2010

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