Sheared off

[Kindasquirrelly]

Hello,
I am attempting to remove my seats and have so far sheared off two bolts.
Does anyone have experience of gettting these out successfully?
Obviously I can't get to the nut as it is inside the raised area of the floor.
Thank you
Michael T.

[Goldstar]

Hello,
I am attempting to remove my seats and have so far sheared off two bolts.
Does anyone have experience of gettting these out successfully?
Obviously I can't get to the nut as it is inside the raised area of the floor.
Thank you
Michael T.

There's no nut it's a threaded fitting. You'll need to drill out the remaining bits of the bolt start small drill in the centre of the stub and get progressively bigger until you get to a point where the bolt breaks up if you get what I mean. You might then need to run a tap through to clean out the thread. Get some plus gas on the others before you try and take them out

[Kindasquirrelly]

Thank you.
Poor description, I meant captive.
I have drilled and tapped the broken ones which of course takes forever.
I have previously soaked everything in penetrating fluid but they still snapped.
I wondered if anyone had found a clever way around the problem.
Thanks
Michael

[Kindasquirrelly]

Hello,
I managed to release the remaining bolts without shearing them off.
I drilled a smal hole close the bolt and was then able to soak the thread in releasing fluid (GT85) for a couple of weeks. Tightened them first then eased the darlings out.
Which BL genius decided to put such long bolts in?
Probably the same one who put the UNF studs in the rear suspension arm.
Hope this is of some use to someone.
Cheers
Mike T

[mole42]

I think they're longer because they have to go through the carpet and underfelt- IIRC they should be the bolts with a relieved portion (no thread) at the end. Fitting the seats with new carpets would be entertaining if the bolts were shorter!

[Kindasquirrelly]

Ah, that makes sense.
It must be the previous owner put the wrong ones in. There was about an inch of thread protruding into the raised section. You could put shag pile in and still find the hole with these beauties!?!

[DJT]

Don't forget there should be thick washers beneath the runners. These are often missing, so the bolts will appear too long...

[Lingen]

As DJT says, there should be thick washers/spacers on the bolts, and cut-outs in the carpet to take them. This ensures that the runners are firmly fixed to the floor, and not compressing the carpet.
Mike.

[Kindasquirrelly]

Thank you. I have all the little oval spacers safely packed and labelled.