How to Add Back Seats to Your MGB Roadster

Having Kids Doesn’t Mean You Have to Drive a Station wagon…

We have all seen ads like the following: “MGB for sale – Family has outgrown car”! This does not have to happen to you. Upon the arrival of our second child. I started toying with the idea of a backseat for my MGB roadster, after all, the MGBGT has one. This conversion turned out to be much simpler than I had imagined.

I acquired a GT seat bottom from anOhio ad in Hemmings and a GT seat upright from an MG mechanic in Maine, who also sold me the obligatory frame from a pack-away hood. (While we don’t stock complete GT rear jump seats, these can normally be found on a used basis. We do stock foam rubber base cushion and upholstery kits in a variety of materials-Ed.)

My hood fit fine on the new frame although I am told the pack-away hood is different from the fold down hood that is original on my MGB.

The seat bottom fits perfectly in place of the carpet over the battery compartment. The addition of two lift-the-dot studs to hold the seat down is all that is required. (The four screws for these studs are the only holes that I had to drill in the car.)

The upright required a little more thinking. Using two short pieces of 1 inch flat steel stock welded to one longer piece of 1 inch by 2 Inch “square” stock, a bracket was made to fit securely between the two shoulder belt mounts that were already in my car. (Some model years do not have this seat belt mount and some drilling may be required to secure the seat bracket.)

In the center of the square stock, a hole should be drilled to accommodate a bolt with an eye for seat belts. The seat upright has three hinges at the bottom that are easily secured to the bracket with machine screws. Seat belt bolts are screwed in the flat stock, securing the upright in the car.

That’s It! Battery access is simple because the seat bottom slides out after the lift-the-dot fasteners are released.

We attended three British car shows this summer and no less than 100 people asked me where I got my back seat and how it was done.

By Jon Hildreth