Topic

It's the re-engineered seat frame. I made some detailed enquiries before going ahead. Prior to the conversion I felt that the distance between the tops of my thighs and the steering wheel was a bit tight. A couple of times I'd scared myself lifting off the throttle to go to the brake pedal and fouled the wheel while trying to brake, what with the sensitive power steering as well.

Andy fitted it for me, only took an hour to do. The conversion once done is not immediately felt, but give it ten miles or so around the roads of Tenbury Wells where the company is located and it definitely becomes apparent, so much so that I managed to break the final speedo cable in my enthusiasm.

I'd asked quite a few questions prior to the fitting, and got a very detailed explanation of the conversion, I can forward the details if required, but they're on my work computer at the moment.

The conversion has a modified seat pan, which retains the anti-submarine feature of the original. If I remember correctly, Rover trimmed the seats to be at the top of the range of the specified 'hip point', so you should see a height difference of 30 - 40mm. It doesn't sound much, but it definitely makes a difference to driving the car. I'm an engineer by trade, working for a well known racing engine company but I felt that it was better to let the experts fit the system, you can do it yourself as they supply the kit on an exchange frame basis - but really, would you want to?

Here's a precis of the communication I had with Andy at Vehicle Handling Solutions:

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the prompt response, sounds like an ideal solution as I've had a couple of incidences where I've had to brake quickly and my thigh fouls the steering wheel, in addition to the space being a bit tight in the pedal box area. Just one question - would this modification require to be reportable with respect to the insurance on the vehicle? I assume that documentation in the form of a certificate of conformity or some such would be available if you fitted the item.

And this was his response:

Victor,
You are posing an interesting question. This is something that we considered carefully when developing the modification and we came to the conclusion that there is no reason to report this change to your insurer - for the following reasons;
1. The declared ‘H’ point for the vehicle has a +/- 25mm tolerance applied to it when checked by the VCA.
2. MG trim engineers are known to have always targeted the top of the box, such that a ‘sagging’ seat will achieve the nominal condition
3. Our modification achieves a H point drop of 20mm.
4. The seat frame itself and the attachments to the body structure are unchanged.
5. The seat belt anchorage points are part of the seat frame, so again are unchanged.
6. The H point reduction is achieved by two modifications
a. By increasing the angle of the centre section which forms the anti-submarine characteristic of the seat cushion (i.e. helps to stops you sliding forwards underneath the seat belt lap strap). We actually increase this feature by lowering the trailing edge of this part.
b. By changing the height of the flexible cushion support.

In summary, we lower the seat cushion within the existing seat frame.

In my opinion, we make the car safer by giving the driver better access to the pedals and steering wheel!

As for a certificate of conformity, then I’m afraid the answer is no. We carry out the modification ourselves (we are both professional engineers) and are confident that the failure modes are unaffected by this work.

I hope that this answers your questions but I quite understand if you do not wish to go ahead with this change.
Thank you for your interest. It makes a pleasant change to be asked some searching questions!
Best regards,
Andy

Thanks for the info there, I might get myself a moody old TF seat and see if I can work it out.

One question though, now you have it done, do you have a 2cm gap between the bottom of the seat upright and the back of the seat cushion?

I'll post a pic tomorrow.

Cheers - looks like it's certainly worth a DIY attempt. Is that a TF seat or a trophy F seat though?

MGF VVC