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MG TD TF 1500 - Need More Leg Room

Just survived my first all day outing with my barn find from lasy year.Though there is a lot of cosmetics left to be done the real issue which will detrmine if I keep the car 50 TD is leg room. After a day long with my legs flexed out and my feet arched up to "not ride the clutch or bury the accelerator" my calfs are killing me. I can deal with not wearing sneakers and wearing mocs to clear close pedals. But this is unacceptable. I'm under six foot 32" inseam size 11 shoe and the seat is all the way back against the reaend cover. Any way to extend pedals I can't enjoy vehcile as is

Jon L

Jon,

You're not that tall. Its your long legs that are the killer.

In late 1952, this same problem prompted Inskip to produce a "long-chassis" TD but only a few were ever made.

I have seen early Sprite seats in a TD but the driver must have had to sit bolt up straight.

You could cut into the stowage well behind the seats, but even with that, space is limited and would require major surgery rendering a reduced value for the TD, when it comes time to sell it.

My suggestion is to try to find some skinnier seats that would fit your TD, and cut them to fit, but try to stay away from cutting into the stowage area behind the seats.

There's no pat solution short of physically making the car longer.

I'll wash my mouth for this, but you " ... might consider buying a Miata" (purgatory, get ready for me), putting it in a barn for a few weeks and then take a friend to see it and exclaim "look what I've found" to give you that warm fuzzy feeling!

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.
Gordon A. Clark

Jon, does your car have the pedal extensions in place? Removing these can give about an inch added room.
Glad to know the car is far enough along you are driving this much.
Regards,
Dennis
D F Sexton

Jon - I am 6" 2" with a 32" inseam also and have driven our TD twice on 5000 mile trips through the western US and many other long trips without all that much problem. As Dennis suggests, remove the pedal extensions (ours are still in place so that my 5' 3" wife can drive the car (her car of preference) and reach the pedals with a pillow behind her back. A couple of suggestions; 1) pull the steering wheel back toward you a bit so you can raise your left leg far enough to rest your foot flat on the floor. This helps considerably when traffic will permit. 2) Try putting shims under the seat runners so the front of the seat is raised about 3/4" to 1". I have not done this, but have been told that it too, helps greatly. One of the problems is that the pedals are really quite a ways forward and one tends to have their legs stretched out fairly flat, with no support behind the thighs and this puts quite a strain on the legs mussels. That is the reason that the passenger side was originally provided with a toe board to rest their feet on so their legs were flexed a bit. Good luck - Dave
David DuBois

Jon,
I pulled the pedal extensions out of my TF and loosened off the locking nut on the steering column, just behind the steering wheel, to pull the wheel closer to me about an inch. What a difference for this 6'2" driver! I hunker down just a bit, wearing the narrowest shoes that I own, and can now enjoy piloting this tiny old gal.
Gene Burgess

I'm just going to keep my mouth shut this tyme!
Cheers,
David 55 TF1500 #7427
David Sheward

Dave

I think that I will print your last post. h
Have it framed and put on the wall.

Tom
T.L. Manion

I remember the first time I sat behind the wheel of a TD. It fit like a glove. 5' 8" with size 8 1/2 feet can be a blessing. Also looking up at people in the day to day world is good practice for watching traffic from any "T" series vehicle. My PO was 6' 6" and lived with the pedal extensions. Of course he had bugs on his chin that was above the wind screen.

Happily

Jimbo 6
1953 MGTD
J. M. Haskins

Jon, just another thought -- the early TD's (mine included) did not have the footwell on the driver's side. Wouldn't be original but installing one might give some additional relief.
Regards,
Dennis
D F Sexton

Have been thinking about this posting for a day or two, and as i am 6'3" or so thought i might have a problem (although when i sit in it in the barn making "vrooom, vrooom" sounds it doesn't seem too tight).
Did a quick sketch http://www3.sympatico.ca/gordonblawson/td/seat.jpg of a new seat back. We do upholstery at work and with the new high density foams available, you should have enough support out of two inches of it or so... This way you could build the seat back so it sits on top of the "package" space and only two or three inches is in front of the "box". Noticed there is tons of play in the bottom seat adjuster and it would go back about 5 more inches if the seat back wasn't in the way. You could reupholster with the original covering.
I found a green leather hide that looks just like my worn leather (lots of black cracked looking finish) and might make a second back if i feel a bit cramped.
g.b.lawson '53TD

David,
I reread your post after my entry about three times before I clued in to where your.....mind is going. I must be more careful in my descriptions in future.
Gene
Gene Burgess

What I do is ride with one knee on the left panel and the other against the gear shift. I have learned how to stretch a leg between the pedals when the aching gets significant.

One thing I have found is the ratio of the angle of the seat back can assist in getting a bit more room. Recommend fiddling with this to get the angle that gives the most room and also keeps the head below the windshield frame.
Bruce Cunha

Well, we haven't heard further from Jon. At the worst let's hope he's out shopping for a Miata and not taking the extreme as referenced by David Sheward.
Regards,
Dennis
D F Sexton

Jon,
I am 6'2" 36 inseam. What I have done is remove the hinge from the back of the seats, this allows the lower portion of the seat to go further back.

On long drives, I can get my left foot between the clutch lever and the wall, right foot has to still stay on the petrol.

Hope it helps.
Blair
Blair Weiss

Happen to have the seat back off and your right..that hinge sticks out about 5 inches... although it would affect the seat back from angling back a bit... moving the hinge away from the box would certainly give you more room between the front of the seat and the pedals...
Am still going to try a second seat back that is further over the box to see how it works....can always keep the original for shows.
g.b.lawson '53TD

Just had the interior redone and now find myself to tall. Head sticks over the wind screen by a good 3 inches. Don't know what to do about that. Did like the idea about removing the hinge, that would get my fat thighs back from under the steering wheel.
Mike R
Mike Razor

Hi all,

Ran into an interesting situation this weekend, which may be relevant to hopefully one person with a tight compartment.

I am 6'2" and have a standard 51 TD which i drive quite well, and comfortably.

This past weekend, i met up with a few other TD's to head from mass to NH. One of the TD's experienced problems with the clutch pedal. Eventually, i tired to get into his car, and could barely!
It turned out that he had and extended pedal lever for the clutch instaleed and his seat had been re-anchored for his height.

Ensure that you are not dealing with a TD that has been modified, seat anchors and pedal mods.

Paul Hinchcliffe
Unmodified 51 TD
Easy Fit - 6'2"

Paul

This thread was discussed between 22/07/2004 and 02/08/2004

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