Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Advice needed on a 4/4 Sport - thinking caps on!

New here although been lurking a while and have been thinking on and off for the past four or five months of getting a 4/4 Sport. I've had a series of "toys" and like having something too impractical for every day as it makes it a lot easier to justify not using it. So..I've had an Alfa SZ, 911 RS, Exige, VX220, and a few others in the past 10 years. Perhaps I've just matured into a 4/4 but I really like the idea.

So, my wife and I visited Malvern in November which did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm as you can imagine! And on Saturday I went to see the charming Dave Randall at Life's to talk about an order. But...when I had the chance to drive the 4/4 Sport with Track-pack that he has for sale I simply didn't fit very well. I am tall, 6'4" and as an ex-lock forward not skinny by any means but although the seats are fine, and I expected the cabin to be tight the seat/wheel/pedal configuration seems to be a real issue.

I either need the wheel to go up an inch, the pedals to go back an inch or two or the seat to have more travel or, all three preferably. I know from reading the posts that the wheel issue is well known (who can drive it with it in the lowest position or is that just if you have hand controls because it almost touches the seat. The seat hits the suspension so no joy there and the pedals don't adjust (although a revised profile would free up some space I feel). I can't even indicate to turn left so its a right-hand turn journey for me or nothing. Is it just the 4/4 - other cars I also sat in seem to have similar issues for me. Older Aero 8s within my budget just don't appeal so that's not the answer.

I've discussed a factory trip with Dave to try a non-track-pack car but I'm not convinced it's going to work and that's a real shame because a grey 4/4 Sport would have been a nice complement to my grey Mini Cooper S Clubman.

Any thoughts in TalkMorgan land?

Andy

Take the wooden rails out from under the seat and remove some padding from the base. Should get you another inch or so.

You can also just mount the seats further back.. they are only screwed to the floor after all.

The pedals and steering are pretty much fixed fit although a smaller steering wheel might help.

You could try asking Sean (the trimmer) at Allon-White if he could make you a seat with a lowered base and longer travel. If mounted on wooden rails (mine - a 2004 4/4 - are on 1" thick ash strips), the mounting rail height and position could be altered. However the newer cars I've looked at, especially with the tilting/reclining seats, have the seats fixed directly to the floor rather than on rails. You could also consider a smaller steering wheel if (as seems likely) you have the strength to manage slightly heavier steering. There are offset steering wheels available, though this only helps for getting in and out.

Thinking caps definitely on there! Thanks for the replies. The 4/4 sport has sliding seats and the tracks but up against the suspension mounts so they can't go any further back or so I'm told. Would be interesting to see if a specially made seat with less padding/lower base could be made as that would clearly give me more space. The wheel on the car was already a 14" moto-lita so I can't imagine they get much smaller than that.

I think that a changing the pedals would be a major improvement - maybe getting some CNC machined might be possible. The floor mounting is just nightmarish for adjustment though and makes it really difficult to rest your foot under the pedal when you aren't changing gear.

Thanks for the thoughts and I'll keep updating on any progress.
Andy

Above is a Sparco Evo seat I have in my racer.. by using Sparco Pro Ali seat mounts you can notch out the rear of the mount and have the rear base of the seat directly resting on-top of the rear cross-member.



Shot down back of seat (it could be moved back another 1/2 inch based on the mount modification.



Shot showing under seat space.. NB. the front of the seat is canted up so for a more reclined position



My seats are stock trim.. but this could be changed easily for matching leather.. personally I quite like the racer look.. similar to the Sabelt seats in the Roadster Lightweight racer.

The removal of the seat foam and replacement with a denser but thinner foam would gain you seat height. The addition of adjustable backed seats may also be of some assistance. The reduction of the wheel diameter to a smaller Mota Lita would also gain space. Pedals could be reshaped but this would not offer an ideal solution.

MMC themselves are usually very reluctant to make any changes to seating, or pedal arrangements, because of homologation issues. However, they do have another company - Aero Racing - who will be fitting the Track Day packs on the 4/4 Sport, who I am sure can be used to make changes to the seating arrangements; though I am sure that will be as aftermarket suppliers without the same comeback under product liability (e.g. the spinners in the track day pack are certainly not homologated!).

Aero Racing certainly have the ability to build a seat with much less dense foam, and may be able to make other mechanical changes to make you more comfortable, or even get you to fit in properly.

If this route does not work, then if may be also worth talking to Steve Simmonds and Shaun at Allon White who I am sure will come up between them with a remedy to your issue. HTH.

I noticed at Ledgerwoods on Saturday that their new Roadster appears to have the seat runners on the floor, rather than on the 'square' wooden runners. And although I can't be absolutely sure I think their 4/4 sport is the same.
It might be worth checking this out with MMC??

Am off to Malvern later in the week to try a standard car and see what, if anything, can be done at the factory before or "after" delivery.

Thanks for the replies

Andy

Why not go for the ultimate, a +8 circa 2000 ish the widest car made by Morgan. I think you would be hard pressed to fill the cockpit, to the point of not being able to enjoy the drive. Perhaps a test drive might be a good move.