Morris Minor Owners Club

After my previous half baked attempts at mating Metro seats to a Minor using Newton Commercial bases I'm now hatching a plan to use a universal seat base to accomodate a variety of seats (should I find some nice leather ones in the future ).
Newtons bases wern't ideal because of two reasons.
1. too narrow for metro runners
2. no space for rear passengers feet.
I want to run an idea past you lot. Basically it's two transversly mounted L shaped steel plates that sit on the sills and transmition tunnel. The L would be inverted so the vertical section is below and cut away from the sill and shaped around the transmition tunnel. I know it would be ideal because it accomodates any width of runner and allows the seat to be positioned perfectly fore and aft and transversly to allow for seat width, seatbelt reels etc. I but I can't work out how to fit it to the sills causing the minimum of disruption to the structure of the car and carpets. The best idea I can come up with is to weld short sections of threaded rod (say M10) to the sills and cut the carpet round them. would a weld the size of an M10 be strong enough to hold the seat? Obviously you don't want a situation where the seat breaks free in an accident but the minor does has seats that would fall forward anyway .

the m10 thread should be fine but just for extra strength could you not also use the mounting holes from the old seats and bolt through the new plate into that ? Also in the event of an accident on the old seats the seat belt would stop the seat tipping ( providing they are fitted of course)

You may find it easier & better to weld a nut to the sill rather than welding threaded rod. Then you can use bolts to fix it.
If you wanted a really neat flush job do it the same way you'd repair a seat belt retaining nut... Ray put an excellent description of that on here many moons ago but if you can't find it let me know & I'll try to give you an accurate description.

Dan

Pete,

How about making a universal frame based on the existing Moggy seat. i.e. use the front bar and rear two U shaped sections (cut down obviously) and weld some flat bar (or inverted L or box section) to the top to create a 'square' frame to bolt any seat to.

Then you have the Minor style tilt if you need rear access and you don't have to worry about mounts.

How about making a universal frame based on the existing Moggy seat

I'm not keen on that idea because the Minor seats are only fastened at the front. Modern seats are a lot more heavy and would only add to the mass that the seatbelt has to stop in the event of an accident. Also I'm not convinced the sliding mechanism would work too well without proper location at all four coners.

You may find it easier & better to weld a nut to the sill rather than welding threaded rod

Yes! of course! i knew there was some better method. That way there is plenty of space for a weld without it fouling the height.
Cheers

Peetee wrote:I'm not keen on that idea because the Minor seats are only fastened at the front. Modern seats are a lot more heavy and would only add to the mass that the seatbelt has to stop in the event of an accident. Also I'm not convinced the sliding mechanism would work too well without proper location at all four coners.

Up to you of course, but the difference in mass of the seat would be less than if a fat person were driving

Also, if you made the frame rigid then the sliders should work fine. But I guess it's more work to get it right though.

less than if a fat person were driving

I see what yer getting at but bear in mind I'm 1 1/2 stone over my racing weight. I still eat what the heck I like though
Muhahahahah

But I guess it's more work to get it right though.

I'm still a foreigner to the art of welding so that sort of a job is well out the question at the mo.

Hi Pete, the answer you got from cam was exactly what I told you I had done with my metro seats and the sliders work perfectly well and with them pulled forward and the back tipped as well there is almost the same amount of space to get in the back as with the old tilt seats regards Barry

Yes, cheers Barry. I have a four door so the tilt isn't necessary. And my comment about welding still stands. my bar idea only involves welding four nuts to the sills in locations that should be fairly easy to mark out. It's a time thing again. Keep it simple - I think I might be able to cope with that.