1968 Seat Frame Left and Right : MGB & GT Forum : The MG Experience

1968 Seat Frame Left and Right #1
sam77 Sam Carman Haskell, AR, USA Sign in to contact 1968 MG MGB	Topic Creator (OP) Mar 9, 2014 12:12 PM Joined 16 years ago 52 Posts

I had my seat recovered on my 68 MGB over a year ago. I am ready to put them back in the car. I really cannot tell which seat is the left or right.

Can anyone help me figure out which is left and right.

Thanks Sam

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Re: 1968 Seat Frame Left and Right #2
chris Chris Roop (RIP) Pendleton, OR, USA Sign in to contact	Mar 9, 2014 12:29 PM Top Contributor Joined 27 years ago 43,805 Posts

I believe that the slides would have the trigger on the outside rail closest to the door. Also, the seat bottoms has one side between the top horizontal and the bottom rail wider than the other side; the wide side would be outboard, closest to the door. (My 68 just left yesterday so this is from memory).

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-03-09 12:32 PM by chris.

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Re: 1968 Seat Frame Left and Right #3
TxBrit Rodger M Fort Worth, TX, USA Sign in to contact 1954 MG TF "Old Sod *Sold" 1969 MG MGB "Old Yeller Sold" 1974 Triumph TR6 "Old Blue * SOLD**"	Mar 9, 2014 12:55 PM Joined 14 years ago 843 Posts

Ha !! Had the same problem and spent an hour struggling to fit seat on wrong side, trust me they will not go in the wrong side. Anyway, black adjuster knob goes on the outside nearest the doors, chrome adjuster on the inside next to tunnel.

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Re: 1968 Seat Frame Left and Right #4
sam77 Sam Carman Haskell, AR, USA Sign in to contact 1968 MG MGB	Topic Creator (OP) Mar 9, 2014 12:58 PM Joined 16 years ago 52 Posts

Hey Chris, thanks for responding. The seats I have are non reclining When you say the seat bottoms has one side between the top horizontal and the bottom rail wider than the other side. I am not sure that I see the differnece. Can you elabroate a little further.

Thanks Sam

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Re: 1968 Seat Frame Left and Right #5
sam77 Sam Carman Haskell, AR, USA Sign in to contact 1968 MG MGB	Topic Creator (OP) Mar 9, 2014 03:50 PM Joined 16 years ago 52 Posts

Hey Chris, my seats do not have the chrome lever on the sides of the seat. The are non-adjustable, Any other thoughts, Sam

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Re: 1968 Seat Frame Left and Right #6
chris Chris Roop (RIP) Pendleton, OR, USA Sign in to contact	Mar 9, 2014 07:10 PM Top Contributor Joined 27 years ago 43,805 Posts

62-68 seats don't have the adjuster chrome lever or the black knob lever that flips the seat forward. I'm pretty sure the forward/back latch is on the side closest to the door.
As for the wider side of the seat bottom, put the frame on the floor, stand behind it and look at the relationship between the seat frame horizontal loop and the vertical seat rail.

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Re: 1968 Seat Frame Left and Right #7
sam77 Sam Carman Haskell, AR, USA Sign in to contact 1968 MG MGB	Topic Creator (OP) Mar 9, 2014 07:50 PM Joined 16 years ago 52 Posts

I got it figured out. The bottom seat is slightly different on the two seats. Rodger in the above post is correct. You cannot install them wrong. You just have to try to install one of them and it will not slide back and forth. You got a 50/50 chance. Of course, I installed the wrong seat. Thanks for all the help. Sam

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Re: 1968 Seat Frame Left and Right #8
chris Chris Roop (RIP) Pendleton, OR, USA Sign in to contact	Mar 10, 2014 03:20 PM Top Contributor Joined 27 years ago 43,805 Posts

Little late for you now, but here is a thread where the differences in seats is discussed. If you look at the poorly angled pics, you might just see that the outside of the seat bottom is larger (from the runner rail to seat frame) than the inside, and that the runner latch is on the outside.
<http://www.mgexp.com/phorum/read.php?1,2007846,2008726#msg-2008726>;

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Re: 1968 Seat Frame Left and Right #9
bobmunch Bob M Ontario, OR, USA Sign in to contact	Mar 10, 2014 03:46 PM Joined 26 years ago 12,897 Posts

Here is a photo of actual EARLY MGB seat frames (#1). They differ on the seat bottoms due to the difference in the shape of the trans tunnel in the early cars compared to the later cars with the slightly larger 4 syncro trans. From 1968 (and perhaps a little before) the seat frames became truly "handed" as the inside sides of each seat tapered to accommodate the wider tunnel (Photo #2).
Photo #3 is the late model seat frames and perhaps you can see the handed taper introduced more clearly in that photo.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-03-10 04:05 PM by bobmunch.

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Re: 1968 Seat Frame Left and Right #10
agustin38 agustin e bahia blanca, bs as, Argentina Sign in to contact 1966 MG MGB GT	Jun 21, 2020 10:41 AM Joined 11 years ago 3 Posts

Hello Bob & Chris, sorry to disturb you.
I have a 1967 Mk1 MGB GT but the seats are from a newer model. I guess 1969. Do you have the Mk1 dimensions for me to see if I can modify the 1969 seats to make them look as close as possible to the original ones?
Thanks and sorry to disturb you.
Agustin

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Re: 1968 Seat Frame Left and Right #11
Rod H. Amity, OR, USA Sign in to contact 1964 MG MGB 1968 MG MGB GT	Jun 21, 2020 10:56 AM Top Contributor Joined 22 years ago 33,653 Posts

Welcome to the forum, Agustin.

Unfortunately, Chris passed away last year and Bob no longer participates here so is unlikely to see your post.

What I see people do to late seats to make them look like early seats is to eliminate the head rests and use leather upholstery like on early seats. Don't know of anyone changing frame dimensions, which actually aren't very much different anyway.

"If I knew where the good songs came from, I'd go there more often."

Leonard Cohen

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-06-21 01:24 PM by Rod H..

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Re: 1968 Seat Frame Left and Right #12
agustin38 agustin e bahia blanca, bs as, Argentina Sign in to contact 1966 MG MGB GT	Jun 21, 2020 01:22 PM Joined 11 years ago 3 Posts

Thank you very much Rod.

Sad news about Chris.

I will do so. I will remove the headrests. Fortunately the seats I have are leather ones but with a different strip configuration than the Mk1...

Tanks again Rod.

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Re: 1968 Seat Frame Left and Right #13
Diver648 Warren Siringer Tucson, AZ, USA Sign in to contact 1959 Austin-Healey 100-Six 1967 MG MGB 1969 MG MGB MkII 1971 MG MGB GT	Jun 21, 2020 01:43 PM Top Contributor Joined 11 years ago 5,801 Posts

They bolt right in. No changes to the frame necessary.

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Re: 1968 Seat Frame Left and Right #14
agustin38 agustin e bahia blanca, bs as, Argentina Sign in to contact 1966 MG MGB GT	Jun 21, 2020 01:52 PM Joined 11 years ago 3 Posts

Thanks Diver648

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