Seat improvements: location, replacement?

[Oldmogman]

Has anyone found a good way of securing the rear legs of the Minor front seats to prevent the seat from tipping forward?

I've heard of a catch from a Mini being used but I think this would only grip one leg? Alternatively, has anyone tried fitting a couple of the 'u' shaped plates from the Minor front mounting to the rear legs?

It may be that replacing the front seats with modern ones fitted to an adaptor subframe would be better. In which case, has anyone fitted Astra seats to a 2-door?

And are there universal subframes on the market other than the Newton Commercial one, which seems rather low?

Thanks all.

[PSL184]

If you permanently fixed the rear of the frame how would your passengers get in and out the rear?

[mike.perry]

N.C. seat adapters can be raised if you fit a 1 in square section ally bar on each side between the adapter and the seat runners and use long fixing bolts to pass through the ally bars.

[Oldmogman]

Thanks guys

PSL - the current seats are Capri items which hinge at the squab, so it's easy for rear seat passengers to get in and out. However, the seats are welded to Minor subframes, which hinge at the front of the seat in the normal manner.

Mike - do you know if the Newton Commercial subframes are a direct, bolt-in swap for the Minor? Do they fit the shape of the floor? And do they go on top of the carpet, or do you need to cut the carpet to fit around them? If the NC subframes need to be modified with packing pieces above and below, I wonder if I'd be better off making my own subframes?

[Peetee]

The Newton conmmercial bases are shaped to fit the floor of the Minor but the top is designed to fit Metro seats. You may find difficulty fitting other seats because of the spacing between the runners. Even Later Metro (eg Rover 100) seats dont fit!
Also bear in mind that the Newton subframes don't leave a lot of foot room for rear passengers.

[PSL184]

Ahh, well if you already have non standard seats that fit OK I would just make some metal straps and bolt the back of the frames to the floor with some spreader plates under the floorpan to take any load....

[mike.perry]

No problems fitting the N.C. seat bases, other than the cost! I think that my seats came from a Maestro / Montego. The backs tilt forward and I have located the passenger seat on the furthest forward holes. Entry a bit of a struggle into the back, certainly not as easy as my 2 door MM with tilting backrest and forward tip.
The bases sit on top of the carpets.
Certainly worth fitting for the comfort.