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MG TD TF 1500 - TD, move seat back for tall people ?

I am 6' tall, not that tall for a person of English descent. I can't get the seat back far enough to extend my legs, especially my right one fully. This is uncomfortable on even moderate trips and has made me offer the car for sale. I drive about 20 miles to work every day.

I started looking at the seats today to see if there is a
way to fix this. My car has the original seats, with covers over them. So I know that the hardware is all original. It seems the center metal piece that goes from under the seat, and then hinges up and into the back is the main culprit, since it stops the backward motion of the seat, combined with the length of the seat back. The hinged metal piece sticks out about 2 inches at the back.

Has anyone reconfigured things, for example, raised the seat back up a few inches to clear the part going over th e rear axle, and then removed the hinged metal under the seat to go back further ?

All other English cars have plenty of leg room !
If I can't fix this I think I will find a bigger car.

Thanks,
Larry
L Ayres

I'm 6'3"... your right, its tight unless your the passenger, then there is too much leg room!
Your idea I have toyed with, and that hinge does stick out pretty far... Would be easy to attach the seat back to the body panel behind the seat then move the seat bottom back the two or so inches... try it and let us know?
The only problem I have with leg room is not having anywhere to rest my left foot... haven't noticed a problem with my right!
gblawson - TD#27667

Larry, I'm pushing 6 foot 3 inches into my TF and found the same problems you are having. Two fixes worked for me. One was to remove the pedal extensions. They are bolted right to the pedals and are in turn bolted to the arms of the clutch and brake pedal. These little bars are not very long, but if you remove them and bolt the pedals directly to the arms it makes a big difference. Two is to undo the steering wheel locking bolt enough to pull the steering wheel back towards you, enough to make it possible to get your legs splayed out against the door locking mechanism on one side, and the tranny tunnel on the other. It worked enough for me to be able to cover say 100 miles before needing to get out and stretch.
Gene
Gene Burgess

Gene,
Thanks. That is a great idea ( the pedals). I can already splay my legs out, but found that after doing that for a while, it caused me to have to go to the chiropractor for lower back adjustments. On the TD I think it is possible to reposition the back of the seat, as I mentioned. I will have to try it.

I will try the pedals first, because I noticed them when putting on the draught excluder boot.

thanks,
Larry
Larry Ayres

On my previous TD, I found the thickness of the seat back prevented me from fully extending my legs. On my present TD, rather than rebuilding the poor condition original seats, I was able to acquire a pair of TR3 seats which have less bulky backs and also are a little lower, both of which should help my seating position. I only hope I can match a tan TR3 recovering kit to the color of the TD interior kit.
Lou Van Koningsveld

Look in the archives, there have been several threads on moving the seats back in the Td and TF (as I remember)

Anyhow, it has been done.

Removing the pedal extensions does supply some relief and is easy to do.
Don Harmer

This thread was discussed between 28/10/2006 and 29/10/2006

MG TD TF 1500 index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG TD TF 1500 BBS is active now.