Fitting MGB GT Seats

[Allan T]

By the way, it's not very obvious, but the squabs are 'handed' - very slightly tapered at one front-corner to fit around the transmission tunnel and give maximum forward adjustment.

As supplied, my seats had their backs and squabs crossed.

It's worth knowing how easy it is to separate them in case you ever want to swap yours around.


Allan

[GeoffK]

Just one tiny point of correction. The 2 parts of the seat are a) the squab which is the upright part of the seat which in most cases is bolted to part b) the cushion which is the bit that you sit on and is usually bolted to the floor. This applies to all BMC, BL, Rover and MG car seats. Having been the Manufacturing Engineering Manager for Seat Assembly and Trim Manufacture at Longbridge from 1984 to 1994 and then at Johnson Controls Automotive until 2003 this is how everyone involved referred to them. Cheers Geoff

[GeoffK]

Having removed the seats from my GT a couple of times I found that using a couple of No 2 pozidrivers quite useful as tools to align the holes. You don’t have to screw anything in just poke the drivers through the front holes and fit the rear bolts loosely. The drivers give you something to waggle to align the bolts. Slide the seat forward and fit the front bolts. Cheers Geoff

[Allan T]

Thanks for your admirably diplomatic post Geoff. My first response faced with such an unimpeachable source was to laugh out loud and wonder how I could have been so misinformed on the point for such a very long time, and where I'd first heard it used that way.

Then about half-way through the first Bangers & Cash of the new series tonight (Thursday 15 February 2024) Derek Mathewson patted the bottom/cushion-part of the back-seat of a 1950s (I think) Bentley, and said something like "We call this the squab".

So I've consulted Google, and got this very full insight into the confusion:

"In general upholstery usage, the squab is the thickly padded cushion of a chair or sofa one sits upon, contacting the thighs and buttocks.
In North America and Europe, Squab in Vehicles is the lower seat portion.
The exception is England for automotive usage during the 1900s. In that context, squab refers to the backrest portion of the chair or side supports one may lean against. In England today, if the conversation is about antique cars or purchasing parts for them, squab refers to the backrest. If the conversation is about modern cars or their parts, squab refers to the seat bottom portion. If clarity is desired, the term squab is avoided.

eg. archaic; for old Austin mini parts www.7ent.com uses squab for the back.

eg. modern; Oxford Dictionary Online (ODO) uses squab for the seat bottom in three examples of modern usage.

eg. Clarity; MINI Market-UK.com avoids any reference to a squab

eg. Confusion; Oxford Dictionary Online gives the definition as the padded back of a vehicle seat, then gives three examples referring to the SEAT BOTTOM portion. An internal contradiction! Note: the three examples are recent sentences in the context of modern automobiles."

If the Online Oxford Dictionary can't get it straight, I think that "If clarity is desired, the term squab is avoided" has much going for it.

Thanks for raising it, I've learned something.


Allan

Just one tiny point of correction. The 2 parts of the seat are a) the squab which is the upright part of the seat which in most cases is bolted to part b) the cushion which is the bit that you sit on and is usually bolted to the floor. This applies to all BMC, BL, Rover and MG car seats. Having been the Manufacturing Engineering Manager for Seat Assembly and Trim Manufacture at Longbridge from 1984 to 1994 and then at Johnson Controls Automotive until 2003 this is how everyone involved referred to them. Cheers Geoff

[GeoffK]

Wow Alan you must have some time to kill!
All I can say is that every marque produced at Longbridge, Cowley and Abingdon had squabs as the upright bit, including MG’s. Maybe the designers in the early days got confused and gave it the wrong name. But it does seem more appropriate to sit on a cushion.
Thanks again for your input it made interesting reading. Cheers Geoff

[Allan T]

You're giving me credit where none is due Geoff - I really should have posted this link last time.

As you'll see, everything within the quote marks was lifted - lock, stock and barrel - from this one source, rather than researched bit-by-bit by me:

https://english.stackexchange.com/quest ... %20portion.

Allan

Wow Alan you must have some time to kill!
All I can say is that every marque produced at Longbridge, Cowley and Abingdon had squabs as the upright bit, including MG’s. Maybe the designers in the early days got confused and gave it the wrong name. But it does seem more appropriate to sit on a cushion.
Thanks again for your input it made interesting reading. Cheers Geoff