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Taking a break from gas tank work to get ready to take my Silverado in for its 1st maintenance check (oil change and tire rotation). I was thinking about a video I saw on the news last night. It had a small car that got rear-ended. The driver of the small car did not have headrests and ended up with a serious neck injury. That got me thinking about our TDs whose owners have tried to keep as original looking as possible. Does anyone know of a way or have added a head rest to their TDs? I think its something we should consider.
ThanksAllen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackAllen, I really don’t like headrests but I don’t like neck injuries either. I have seen headrests that use flat aluminum or chromed stock as the vertical “posts). Don’t remember which car it was. These would be easy to mount on MiGi since the seat back is a solid sheet of plywood.
You’ll need a high back seat for this add on, but it looks like it could be beneficial.
http://www.addonheadrest.com/order.htmlHere are some seats that would need rails. Both are offered by this vendor.
http://www.prpseats.com/Products/17-the-roadster.aspxI really don’t think adding a headrest to the kinds of seats we have is going to make any difference if an SUV runs our car over.
We sit on a fiberglass bucket with a plywood base attached with a bit of piano hinge and little screws. The seat is bolted to the floor with four half-inch screws. All of this will break in a hard impact from any direction. So our body is not going to be held fast by the seat belt–assuming the seat belt anchors both hold.
The backs of our seats are half-inch plywood bolted loosely (two lower bolts, in my case) to the fiberglass tub. I also have two original-style seat back adjusters up top–which are stronger than the tiny L-brackets and wood screws they replaced. So the seat back, too, would likely go mobil in the event of a serious hit.
Attaching a “headrest” to any kind of MG TD-style seat would be awkward at best, of not impossible, and it would do no good in a crash.
The only way to make these kinds of cars at all crash-safe is to install a full roll cage to SCCA specs. To that reinforced frame you could install modern racing seats, five-point harnesses, and even a HANS device if you wanted. And that might save you from whiplash when the 17-year-old kid who’s texting in the Denali rolls up behind you at 45 mph when you’re stopped at a light.
Sorry. That’s just how it is.
When i was 17 i had a 1961 ford falcon some friends and i worked on it all the time tinted windows, racing stripes, head rests etc.Today i was thinking what the TD would look like with head rests and decided it would look cool isn’t that what were after looking cooooool? The kind i had were cylindical
about 12 to 15 inches long with ends 4 inches in diameter.Today i hunted computer stores looking for a store that carries them no luck .I believe l bought them at a discount dept. store like wallmart If any buddy can help find them let me know.Anyway the nice thing about these they could be removed with two chrome thumb screws and easily stored. They came in many colors.Maybe we all could get them and some day it would be part of original equipment or an option.Gee Greg,,,,, I think that type of head rest, has not been sold in many years, since head rests became standard I think 1968 model year … I had red ones in my 63 Falcon god I thought i was COOL
Allen as far as a headrest for safty in this type of car …. ED is on the mark
for safty I’ll ride a bike first !!!!!! Dan Thanks for all the thoughts. Headrests would be awkward at best to install and like Ed mentioned they wouldn’t help a whole lot.
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackHeadrests on this type of vehicle is pointless.
As Ed pointed out, these cars are a deathtrap.
The best thing you can do is make your insurance payments.Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"If it’s just for cool looks, I say go for it. Some people like them for comfort while driving too. Certainly any recent automotive seating technology should improve comfort quite a bit, and that could be worth doing.
The Laffers came with buckets with headrests standard, I think. And the way to get it done most efficiently would be to go to a bone yard and find some narrow bucket seats, bring them home and find a way to attach them to the pan. My local boneyard sells seats for $30 apiece. Lots of older (i.e., late ’90s) base Japanese cars could work. Spray dye ’em to match your interior and revel in your cleverness.
Do drive very carefully though. Anything happens and we’ll basically slide off like cheddar from a nacho chip.
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