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MG MGA - Need Narrow Seats

I am looking for some replacement seats for my Fiberfab Jamaican MGA. Because the roof is very low (44" over-all height - an inch lower than a Lotus Elise/Exige) I would be fitting the seats without any adjustment rails, which is OK as no one but me would be driving the car.

I do need seats that flip forward as I need access to the luggage space behind the seats. This feature will also allow me to fit them in a semi-reclined position (the alternative would be a bulge in the roof for my head ;-)

I also need seats that are narrower than, for instance, Fiero seats, which are 20" wide (I have a handy Fiero in the driveway to measure)- I need at most a 19" seat to fit between the tunnel and MGA frame.

Has anyone got a measurement on any of the other common substitutes like Porsche 914 or Mazda Miata?

My alternative is to fit lighweight fibreglass racing seats, but having raced with such, I can say that a long road journey in such would delight Torquemada.

I post here not because I advocate non-original seats in any MGA that hasn't already been sullied, but because someone else may have gone this route before.
Bill Spohn

Have you thought about going to a foriegn car junkyard (I guess today, they're called recylers or dismantlers) with a measuring tape and just seeing what's available? Even if they were in bad shape, they could be re-upholstered. How wide is the original seat? I'd go out and check mine--but I'm hog-lazy this Monday morning. It had a set of TR3 seats in it when I got it---something similar might fit the bill.
R. L Carleen

Try and find a set of BGT seats, they are narrow and will recline too
dominic clancy

Bill, I used the seats from a Nissan Pulsar in my midget, about 19" wide but the lower cushion is a bit thick. I cut down the cushion and raised the bottom of the seat pan to match to get them lower in the car. Hard to beat the early Bugeye type seat for both lower body lateral support and height. And they flip.
Bill Young

We make custom aluminum seats that fit MGAs very nicely.
www.vintage31.com
Scott

Very nice, Scott.

If I didn't already have a Recaro in the race car I'd be tempted. They wouldn't work with the Jamaican as there is little access room (almost as bad as my TVR race car - the boys at the factory nick-named the early Granturas 'the Virgin' - hard to get into but comfortable once you were there....) and the driver is too generously proportioned (ahem) to be able to vault over the sides of such seats.

I tried some 914 seats today and they would work except that I'd need to rmove the seat cushion and run with almost no padding. I guess I won't be able to improve on the scantily padded set of fibreglass racing buckets I happen to have out in the store room.
Bill Spohn

Hi Bill!
Thank you for your kind words. Good luck with the Fiberfab Jamaican MGA. Please make photos ava. in the process of development.

S
scott

This thread was discussed between 06/02/2006 and 07/02/2006

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