Seats and MOT
Turbo Mini Forums

As with all government published material, the MOT guide is vague.

http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/htdocs/m4s06000202.htm

Do seats need to be fastened at all 4 corners of the base, or will the standard hinges resting on the floors be sufficient for a 1978 car? It was OK like that in my old '75 car, but that was using the original seats.

I do recall something about this but can't recall the year; did BL not have to fit the lock and rail to the front seats to satisfy the change in law?

That's what I was thinking. The car did have those rails fitted, but it had some 80's seats in it and the brackets looked to have been fitted by a blind man (so probably a factory item ).

I'm hoping to drop the rear of the seat so that I can actually get in it...

if your fitting different seats I'de fix at 4 corners; at the end of the day, safety should be paramount - not getting away with bare minimum!

I made up a subframe and sat it behind the crossmember so legroom isn't an issue

Edited by Rob Gavin on 8th Nov, 2011.

I'm also thinking about access to the rear and hinging the seats at the front. Wifey is still insisting that we have kids, so I'm fitting isofix child seat bracket(s) in the back....

isofix base is long (ours is anyway) - not sure how much room you would have behind the front seat for it all to work properly

Was going to put it in the passenger side, with that front seat on a sliding hinged bracket, so wifey can have the bother...

I may just fix my seat behind the front cross member, so nobody else can reach the pedals

I have MX5 seats. Before the kids could climb in I just lifted them over to the rear. Or just had one in the front.

Now they are older (5 and 3) they just climb through the middle and use the setbelts themselves.

Adults can get in the back by tilting the seats and then sliding it forwards, not such a hassle really.

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

My seats are fixed back. Might make it a bit awkward to get baby seats etc in the back with both fixed down.

hinging fixed back seats forward may not give you the access you need either

Heheheh. Makes me giggle now whenever I see the word MOT!

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

Fair point rob. Need to go out and have a fiddle in the car.

Andy, if you do have some kids are you really going to want to take them about in a Mini when they are that small? Surely you will be using the Audi or whatever to transport them about?
When my little brother was little I was massively paranoid about taking him anywhere in any car, driving extremely carefully.
Obviously once they are a bit older its a different matter and Sam now loves going about in the 205's or whatever, usually the faster the better.

It's partly so Mike can sit in the back too.

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

I had my boys in my mini or sabre sprint from pretty much day 1.

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

It's more for going to Avon and things like that, rather than every day driving.

You have to have kid seats until they are quite big these days...

To send to Santa in time for Xmas?

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

Looks like the bracket (from a Focus) will fit OK. Just needs a fair amount of re-enforcement where it bolts through the bulkhead.




Also plenty of room to get in and out with the seat hinged.

Think I'll fasten the drivers seat to the floor behind the cross member and hinge the passenger seat. Just need to find a nice way to fasten it down at the back.



Edit: Trigger happy...

Edited by apbellamy on 8th Nov, 2011.

Found a better MOT manual.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/repository/MOT%...on%20Manual.pdf

Looking at page 140, the drivers seat needs to move backwards and forwards.... Going to have a chat to the tester when I get my daily done on Friday

You'll not get one of those cot type seats through that gap. I had to put the cot in the front.

Only when I changed to forward facing seats di I put one in the back.

Also, don't take your kids to Avon, they ruin the fun!

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

lol, that's why the wife would be coming. I can play with the cars and drink beer and she can do what ever you do with children when Dad's not there...

I may chuck a child seat in the back and see what leg rooms like.

I'd echo Wil's comments; I have to move the seat forward in the audi to get it in with the isofix base. The forward facing seat may be ok though

Had a chat with my local MOT tester.

He doesn't know of an age limit for the mechanism to lock the seat to the floor at the back, so he wouldn't fail a mini for it.

He takes the sliding mechanism to be 'where fitted' and bolted to the floor/brackets is fine.

I still think I want some way to hold the passenger seat down at the rear. Might have to chop up a mini seat...

what about one of the cobra type subframes that allow fitting of a bucket seat with slide and tilt functions?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-Cobra-Bucke...w-/260265569103

Edited by Rob Gavin on 11th Nov, 2011.