MG MGB and MGB GT Tech Talk
has anybody used a set of modern bucket seats in their MGB? have you got any pics of how they look? i am desperatly searching for replacement covers for my grey "deckchair" style seats, but most second hand offerings look rather tatty, modern bucket seats can be had for £100 a pair and i feel would be an acceptable alternative in my non standard car (im looking at all black seats, nothing garish!)
please help guys i duno what to do for the best!!!!!!!
Do a search here for references to swapping into Miata seats. That swap has been discussed MANY times.
Anything that you do is going to be a compromise as the cushion height and angle are going to affect clearance under the steering wheel and whether or not you have to duck your head in order to see thorugh the windshield. The height and shape of the squab will control appearances and whether or not you can use an "off the shelf" tonneau cover.
Notice too that the OEM seats are "handed" and are not square in plan view so as to clear the transmission tunnel.
Mounting is another issue entirely, as making sure that you will be able to slide the seat forward and back is important.
In general the inexpensive "racing seats" that you see on eBay and elsewhere are not a good alternative for most folks.
In my experiences the "new" seats from Moss and elsewhere are a tad too overstuffed and firm. They are a very tight fit between the tunnel and the inner sills and take quite a while to "settle" and not make yu feel like you are sitting on a bar stool.
IMHO the best thing is to do a quality rehab on a set of original seats and make minor mods to the cushion webbing and/or cushion foam as you do it, according to your height and weight.
Jack
Matthew, be careful of any modern aftermarket seat with the "wings" on the upper back around shoulder height such as in the photo. In most cases these will not clear the upper portion of the cockpit surround on a roadster and are very close on a GT. Miata seats fit much better than most aftermarket seats.
i am lucky enough to be able to fabricate brackets suitable to mount the bucket seats to the floor, so that isnt an issue and also have the facilities to raise the seats up if neccecary, however i appreciate that if the seats were much taller than standard, my head would hit the roof of my GT (im 6' 2", so im tall but not a giant).
my problem is that i have looked at the miata seats, but they are unavailable in the UK, which is where my problem started. as the cost of having them shipped across the pond aswell as buying them is far beyond my limited budget.
idealy i would buy some new "grey deckchair" covers for my seats as the foams and seats themselves are in very good condition but as far as i can tell, they dont do the deckchair upholstery anymore, so in the UK it looks to be vinyl or nothing, and if i have to pay over £100 im wondering why not shoehorn some sporty offerings in? i have been tempted by a set of classic bucket seats but was informed that these seats are quite unsafe as they do not provide asmuch back and neck support as the standard seats do? is this correct?
I have no idea if they fit, but I've noticed the seats in the newer corvettes have a great shape and are very narrow.
Mathew,
I recently installed a pair of Corbeau Clubman's and I love 'em.
Not many racing seats will fit an MGB due to the narrow space between trans tunnel and sill. You need a seat no wider than 19 inches. As a result of the seat being even this wide my seats are offset "outboard" by about an inch but I'm much shorter than you (5' 10") so I need to set the seat closer to the steering wheel (The further you can set the back the more room you have due to the way the trans tunnel "flairs" out near the firewall). Custom brackets are a must but if I can do it I think anybody can.
I have pics but don't have my digital camera here at work. They're not that good either. Suffice to say that if you like the look of modern racing seats in a classic sports car (not everyone does) you'll love 'em.
3 last thoughts. 1) I have 32 inch waist and the seats fit well. I think any waist larger than 36 would be tight. 2) The advantage of side bolstering both at the hips and shoulders is great, you feel everything the car is doing underneath you and you no long have to cling on to the steering wheel to keep from sliding around. 3) getting in and out of the car is interesting. One more reason to stay skinny...
with the clubmans, are you still able to squeze somebody (albeit a small somebody) onto the back seats? im a skinny 30" waist so ill have no problem with skinny seats.
id love to see some pics if you get a chance as i think i like the look, but im aprehensive of ruining the interior rather than enhansing it?
They don't have any MX5s at the breakers in the UK???? As others have said, they fit well. They are the correct height, and they look very appropriate in a late MGB.
If that's not possible, I'd try to find an upholstery shop that would replace the deck chair cloth on your seats with plain black cloth....or even make new covers altogether.
Moss in the US also sells new covers for the '73 GT, which would give you black cloth seats.....I just checked, and those are available from Moss UK as well - part# SCA5011. The seat foams should be the same from '73-'80.
Saw these last summer on another rallye. Lateral support is a must for fast touring. Do a 'search' for dimensions of the MGB seat. I know someone posted them not too long ago.
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This drawing may help you as you shop for other seats. It has the dimensions of the OE MGB seat you are trying to replace and fit into the car.
You can't get to the back seat as the Corbeau's are a "fixed back" seat.
Found a picture. I'm not sure how good it'll come out once attached.
I figure the original seats were good enough for the original rallies, etc. so I'm sticking with them, but I want my car to look period.
Here's a set of the Moss Classic Seats in my B. Didn't like them so I sent them back to Moss. Too high, too hard to move and just didn't sit right. Have to admit though, they looked great.
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My goal reference seats for my 64 is this,,,,
Miata seats but the one or two years they offered a seat with a removable headrest instead of the integrated type you see so often. If I can find a set in black leather that would be great because at that point I can just have the uphol;stery pulled apart to install "correct" red piping so the seats look like they belong in the car.
My stock seats are in decent shape but these original types have absolutely no support whatso ever and it is odd because the seats in my 61 Midget are really not half bad support wise.
Would Sprite/ Midget early seats look too small in the car if mounted in a B ?
Gettin in and out of the car with those Corbeaus must be a major chore. Planting your butt and swiveling in is not an option.
I have seats like that in my Samurai and they are great but I have a lot more room to get in and out with.
Back in the early 1980's I installed a pair of Recaro Seats in my 73 GT.
They barely fit, and ended up with little in the way of adjustment and to top it off were
too firm and quite uncomfortable. In the end I sold them off and got my original seats re-upholstered
with a corduroy facing as per original (for 1973) They looked good and were very comfortable.
I think that the corduroy would be much more durable and better looking than the deck-chair style.
Cheers,
Rich
To me the decision has to be made whether you are building a race car, which has the most uncomfortable seats in the world for daily driving, you want it to look like a race car, same thing on the seats or want to be able to drive all day and not get out of the car needing a back brace or a butt pillow! I put Leather Summit seats in the 72 from Vic Britt and it was the best money I spent on the car. They look great and are twice as comfortable as the original seats. Only thing is, their not cheap and you loose about 1 inch in head room with them, which is ok for us, but a very tall person might have a problem with the top up. Just another thought. PJ
Summit seats, sorry for the fuzzy photo.
Alan, I am with you on the Moss seats. I have a customer who sunk a TON of money into a new set and the results were the same. Too tall, too firm and won't adjust because they are too wide. A genuine PITA to install too. He is big guy and I fear that the seating in the car is going to sour him on the whole idea of an MG.
There were some of those "racing seats" in the car when he bought it so he didn't have the alternative of just rehabbing OEM ones but I wish that he had let me re-upholster the old set out of a 69 that I had sitting over in the corner.
I can't understand why such a big and knowledgeable outfit like Moss doesn't listen to their customer's feedback and pressure their vendors to make appropriate mods to some of the things that they buy and then sell to us. In this case, if the original department buyer didn't catch the problem in the first place at least you would think that the quality control guys would make lots of noise and get the product right.
Jack
Getting in and out is tricky but as I am on the small side (5' 10" 160 lbs) it's not too bad. A removeable steering wheel may be in the future but for now it's fine. My wife drove it in the new passenger seat for the first time last night as we took the MG to dinner. We had a good laugh. Safe to say she doesn't appreciate the "sport" in my sports car.
If my memory is correct, David "Workinearly" Was doing a set of C4 Corvette seats that he felt were a good fit. Never heard anymore as to how that worked out.
Had my original seats redone and once the new foams broke in, I consider them comfortable. However, at the track, they offer no side support and you have to hang onto the steering wheel for support. Not the best way around the track. But, anything with a side bolster is going to make it harder to get in & out. So I guess you have to make a choice.
