Back to life - MG Midget

Back to life - MG Midget

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gifdy

Original Poster:

2,065 posts

240 months

Monday 12th December 2016
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After 22 years of it sitting around in garages, I'm finally making progress on my good old MG Midget. It was the second car I ever owned, the first being a £50 mini called Bogie. I always intended to sort it out but other cars, career, children and bad health kept pushing the Midget down the priority list.

I've peaked in my career, my daughter is more interested in listening to Little Mix than spending time with Daddy and I've sorted out my dodgy back so the Midget is finally making progress.

Bodywork is solid, the paintwork needs a little tidying, front and rear suspension and brakes are rebuilt. I've replaced the loom as well as brake & fuel lines. Engine has been rebuilt. I've still to do interior, new roof, rebuild carbs and work out what to do about rubber bumpers as well as a big list of snagging.

Anyway, to the point. Any suggestions for seats ? The kits for reconditioning the old ones are expensive, even in vinyl. I'm thinking about possibility of retro bucket seats but not sure which ones. I'm not bothered about originality. Anyone got pictures of what they've fitted ?

Cheers

Jed-S

660 posts

215 months

Tuesday 13th December 2016
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My only reservation about bucket seats in something as small as the Midget is that the sides could make access rather awkward, but that would likely depend on your height and mass. I'm tall (near on 6'2") and skinny so needed low seats and something with a thin back to maximise leg room, hence the Caterham S3 seats now fitted to mine. Before that I had some very slim Intatrim seats (uncomfortably narrow even for me) and before that there were seats from an Elise Mk1. These were too wide and fouled the rollover bar so I couldn't get a nice back angle and sufficient leg room.

Some of the K series Midget boys have fitted the MG TF seats and they look good but annoyingly I can't find any photos of them fitted.


Here's mine with the S3 seats:


gifdy

Original Poster:

2,065 posts

240 months

Tuesday 13th December 2016
quotequote all
I wouldn't have such problems hehe 5ft8 and 70kg. Pure untensed muscle of course.

Those seats look nice. Do you mind saying how much ? And do they fit on with the standard belts rather than harnesses ?

Jed-S

660 posts

215 months

Wednesday 14th December 2016
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They were s/h and about £150 the pair but prices do vary quite a lot. No problems with the standard seat belts either.


gifdy

Original Poster:

2,065 posts

240 months

Thursday 15th December 2016
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Thanks, I'll keep an eye open for those.

Flying Phil

1,578 posts

144 months

Wednesday 21st December 2016
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There are lots of Midgets/Sprites with MX5 seats. The low back ones with detachable head rests mean you can still use the standard tonneau cover.

Frexit

33 posts

86 months

Sunday 8th January 2017
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I think that as you havn't upgraded the perforance I would go for a more standard looking seat and keep an eye out on ebay for some , but in my humble opinion buckets look like a fat exhaust on a Corsa

gifdy

Original Poster:

2,065 posts

240 months

Sunday 8th January 2017
quotequote all
Frexit said:
I think that as you havn't upgraded the perforance I would go for a more standard looking seat and keep an eye out on ebay for some , but in my humble opinion buckets look like a fat exhaust on a Corsa
The performance has been upgraded but nothing major. The standard style seats don't offer enough support hence looking for alternatives. The seats above or MX5 ones don't look out of place to my eye, certainly not fat exhausts on a Corsa - but hey, we're all different.

The paint is not correct for the year, the bumpers are coming off and I'm changing the indicators for mgb ones so it's never going to be a welcome sight for purists.

AdrianR

822 posts

283 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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Similar position here, mine has been in storage for a little over a decade. I fired it up end of last year but clutch/brakes etc are all a bit siezed and now need a refurb. It could also do with a better respray than my younger DIY efforts.

There was a modified Midget at the Bicester scramble with period type leather low back buckets which looked nice.

SamR380

725 posts

119 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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22 years of 'I'll get around to it'. Top man-points and congrats on getting back on it.

gifdy

Original Poster:

2,065 posts

240 months

Friday 20th January 2017
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SamR380 said:
22 years of 'I'll get around to it'. Top man-points and congrats on getting back on it.
Cheers ! New exhaust fitted last night - that was a bugger. This weekend, I'm going to try & get it running to keep my motivation levels up

As for seats, I've got my eyes on some cheap MX5 ones at the moment. If they don't work out then there were some retro buckets put into a Mini Cooper on CAR SOS that looked pretty good.

gifdy

Original Poster:

2,065 posts

240 months

Sunday 12th March 2017
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Engine started and running this weekend! Took longer than I thought due to carb issues but it's going now. It ran a bit hot so I need to check cooling system but don't think it's a big issue.

AdrianR

822 posts

283 months

Tuesday 14th March 2017
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Mine is making negative progress. Engine and gearbox removed to free up clutch, brakes all in bits as well. No progress in finding anyone locally interested in painting it though.

gifdy

Original Poster:

2,065 posts

240 months

Tuesday 14th March 2017
quotequote all
AdrianR said:
Mine is making negative progress. Engine and gearbox removed to free up clutch, brakes all in bits as well. No progress in finding anyone locally interested in painting it though.
Have you tried asking on a regional forum ? I'm not in your area but there are similar requests in the South Coast forum which usually come up trumps

mgtony

4,013 posts

189 months

Sunday 19th March 2017
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Gifdy, whilst browsing Ebay keeping an eye out for leather seats for my B, I came across these, complete with runners and ready to go. Might be of interest to you:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/leather-car-seats/172549...

smile

gifdy

Original Poster:

2,065 posts

240 months

Tuesday 21st March 2017
quotequote all
mgtony said:
Gifdy, whilst browsing Ebay keeping an eye out for leather seats for my B, I came across these, complete with runners and ready to go. Might be of interest to you:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/leather-car-seats/172549...

smile
Thanks -they look ideal ! The missus has thrown a curve ball though. She suggested a tan interior. Still mulling that over ....