MG Metro/Newton Commercial seats

Post by **Peetee** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 4:11 pm

go the wrong way down credibility street & buy a bead mat

The one drawback with that is the parcel shelf isn't big enough for a matching panama hat and highland terrier.

Post by **Orkney** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 5:00 pm

what about the driving gloves LOL and i think i saw a pic of Alex wearing a panama hat LOL

Post by **alex_holden** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 5:08 pm

A Trilby actually, for a Gangsters and Molls themed disco.

Post by **Orkney** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:09 pm

RESPECT !

Post by **alex_holden** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:13 am

Having made it to London in one piece (snow on the M40!) I believe the problem is that the base of the seat has sagged. I tried sitting on a pillow and it helped a lot, but it's still less comfortable than the standard seat. Anyone got any idea where you can buy the parts to renovate the MG Metro seats?

Post by **Mogwai** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 4:58 pm

I will probably change the seats in my minor sometime this year I was thinking of using seats from an Alfa 147 as the leather ones have a similar style patern to the later minor ones so shouldnt look too out of place. has anyone tried these before

Post by **Peetee** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:24 pm

I thought of that too. I saw quite a few sets come up on ebay but what eventually put me off was that one of the photos was clear enough to show that they have a big Alfa logo embossed in the seat panel.

Post by **dunketh** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:35 am

I keep looking at the red leather ones from the MGF sportscars.

They look about the right shade to match cherokee and I'm sure you can get non-electric ones.

Post by **Peetee** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 12:56 pm

I keep looking at the red leather ones from the MGF sportscars.

They look about the right shade to match cherokee and I'm sure you can get non-electric ones.

I would imagine they are the same material as the ones that go in the Rover 200 BRM. I have a set of these and the colour is somewhere between the series 2/948 red leather and the 1098 vinyl. They have electric supply for the seatbelt pretentioners but nothing else. They also tip forward.

Post by **alex_holden** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 9:05 am

Newton Commercial say they can't supply new diaphragms/straps/whatever for the MG Metro seats and don't know of anyone else who can. They also said they could probably make new covers for them but they would cost about £260 each(!). At that price I can live with a non-matching interior a bit longer...

I'm going to try asking around the Metro forums to see if anyone has any idea where I can find new diaphragms etc. for the bases. I think I may need to temporarily put my standard seats back while I try to solve the problem with the MG Metro ones.

Post by **Orkney** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 9:34 am

OUCH wouldnt it be worth looking for another set from a scrappy? maybe you need to find a car with them in and sit in another set just to make sure its your seats and not the mg met seat in general - ie can you fix the problem.

Post by **Kevin** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 11:37 pm

Newton Commercial say they can't supply new diaphragms/straps/whatever for the MG Metro seats and don't know of anyone else who can.

I wonder if there is much difference in the underpinnings of MG seats compared to the standard Metro or 100 seats.
I have a pair of Newton seats fitted (they were already on the car and had been there a few years) and the comfort is very good compared to the standard seats however mine are different to most as they dont have head rests but are a high back version, and some years ago I had the standard MG Metro seats in a saloon and they were quite an improvement although not quite as good as the current ones.

Post by **alex_holden** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 9:17 am

I suspect they're different as they have a narrow sprung section in the middle and hard foam bolsters on the sides. The problem with them (the reason why they're so uncomfortable) seems to be that the middle part sinks way down when I sit on it but the bolsters don't. I reckon I need to swap the old seats back on so I can take the MG Metro ones apart and find out what provides the spring. Even if new diaphragms aren't available I might be able to improvise something.

Post by **dunketh** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 3:33 pm

Yup - metro seats are sprung rather than 'webbed'.

To be honest you might as well do as already suggested - find a pair you like and bodge them in. Anything can be made to fit anything.

From personal experience I'd recommend 80s 'small' Ford seats. XR/RS range if you fancy something sporty.
They're very small (prob 20% or so smaller than metro ones) so would be ideal for the job.
Infact when I fitted Metro seats to my old mk2 XR2 there was considerably less room in the cockpit.