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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Bucket Seats

Hello All - I need to replace the seats in my Mk3 and have been looking at the after market classic bucket seats. I have sat in one in a showroom and it felt ideal. Questions??
1. Anyone fitted them and what under frames did you use -even the 2 suppliers I have approached seem more than a little vague on this point.
2. Can they be fitted using the existing floor holes -I would like them to be about the same height as the originals
P Willoughby

Easiest and cheapest way is to mount them directly to the floor.

Using spacers on the front to determine the angle of recline the seat has.

Remember to use large washers between the seat and the floor to prevent damage to the steel and ideally use some L section alloy or light steel length ways between the mounting holes as additional support and to prevent the floors from flexing as they are only beaded to add strength laterally and not longitudunally.

The original holes I would have welded up, smoothed down and repainted to prevent further rusting and weakness in the floor pan. Otherwise, metal tape and silicone if you dont fancy cracking out the welder.

Pete
PeterJMoore

If your still open to other seat ideas...

the 2 popular choices that are a decent fit with the existing rails are the MGF seats and the mazda MX5 seats... Ive never heard anyone complain on ither after installlation
Prop

P,
I fitted a pair of Cobra seats that I bought from Merlin Motorsport. I fitted them direct to the floor as you are quite limited when you have a roll bar fitted aswell and to fix them on a frame restricts the space as they wouild then sit higher in the cockpit.
I utilised the existing fixings in the floor as well so that I could utilise the pre existing strengthening channels in the midget floor.
To enable me to do this I made up four plates which I fitted to the bottom of the seats. I worked out where the holes in the floor were (at the front of these plates) and welded a bolt to each one. At the rear of the plates I drilled a hole that would accept the existing floor bolt. Installing and removing the seats is a simple process.


Neil (K series)

Neil,

love the seats , what roll bar did you use and have you a pic that shows the seat belt fixing more clearly ?
Have you used the original 3 mounting points and added one ?
thanks
Andy
Andy Chaffey

Hi Andy,
The seats were Cobra Signature. I had the white piping put on to match the door cards.
The roll bar is a standard aero. I removed the padding and sprayed it the same colur as the car.
To attach the seatbelts I made a bar that attached to the original seat belt fixings on the top of the arches. I then made mountings to attach the seatbelts to the bar.
I attached a photo.
Neil


Neil (K series)

Thanks for that neil


ive been thinking about how to make that 4th connection and still good...thats a great idea and gives me sevral more ideas

How comfortable are the cobra seat on long drives aka 200 miles or a tank of fuel NON-Stop, and how well do they support you while in competition mode... I really love the look
Prop

Hi Prop,
The seats do look cool and are very supportive when cornering. As for comfort they are acceptable but wouldn't compare to a nice set of leather MGB seats. Saying that however my wife and I did 2200 miles in them in Farance this summer with some daily journeys 300 miles plus. And not forgetting I am 6'3"!! We were both fine.
And lets face it, how many people do those mileages (except in the USA!!)
Neil
Neil (K series)

I've used Frogeye buckets in my MkIV for many years, slightly modified as regards back rest angle and recovered in leather. always very comfy, not heavy and don't occupy much room so good if you have long legs. For reasons I don't understand myself I'm about to try some MX-5 seats.
The frog seats fitted original mount points as do the Mazda seats now I've tweaked them.
Also the Frog seat squab can be removed if you need to carry a load of shopping or an engine block.
P Simpson

This thread was discussed between 09/10/2010 and 10/10/2010

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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