Help needed with rusty seat bolt that keeps on turning!

[IMD]

Hi all,

I started taking out the old fabric interior on my W124 today, to replace with the leather that I bought 2 weeks ago. I expected it to be a simple job, but I've hit a problem.

One of the floor bolts securing the rear passenger seat was pretty rusty, due to a damp carpet no doubt. I carefully stated undoing this and sure enough it loosened, but now keeps turning and does not unscrew. I'm not quite sure what to do.

Here's a pic:




Any suggestions?

Cheers

Ian

 

[SilverSaloon]

have a look under the car as a helper tries to turn the bolt from inside the car. the mount if there is one may be turning...? if so clamp it somehow and then undo.

maybe use molegrips and pull on the bolt upwards as you turn.....

otherwise i guess you'll have to drill it out....

Hi all,

I started taking out the old fabric interior on my W124 today, to replace with the leather that I bought 2 weeks ago. I expected it to be a simple job, but I've hit a problem.

One of the floor bolts securing the rear passenger seat was pretty rusty, due to a damp carpet no doubt. I carefully stated undoing this and sure enough it loosened, but now keeps turning and does not unscrew. I'm not quite sure what to do.

Here's a pic:

View attachment 13550


Any suggestions?

Cheers

Ian

 

[IMD]

Thanks for the suggestion. I did have a look, however the bolt doesn't go all the way through the floor. There is a double skinned section that it bolts into, and it appears that the floor has a hole that is threaded...so the bolt screws directly into a threaded hole. I'm just hoping it will come out, but I still need a socket set to turn it, as its pretty stiff. Not sure if I'll be able to use molegrips, turn and pull at the same time! Will give it a go.

My nightmare is that the tread is knackered and I'll have to take it somewhere to be rethreaded or perhaps to spot weld the seat in somehow...I see burnt carpets!

 

[RodgerDodger]

if the female end is detached within the double skin/box section - how will you remove it - when the bolt/male is separated? - could be tricky me thinks.

 

[andy_k]

once you get it out - as suggested drilling may be the only option (don't forget to clamp the bolt head whilst you are drilling to keep it stable). You should be able to lift that section of carpet and see what is wrong - my guess is that the rust will have corroded the welded 'captive nut' in the void between the floor panels.

No big problem, clean it up and see how far the rust has spread, make a small plate with a hole in it - weld a nut to that which matches the thread on the seat bolt, then fix it to teh seat, place it in position and weld the plate in.

If you get stuck and/or need a welder - I'm just down the coast in Bexhill

Andy

 

[andy_k]

if the female end is detached within the double skin/box section - how will you remove it - when the bolt/male is separated? - could be tricky me thinks.

I suspect that by the time he's cleaned up the rust under the carpet getting the bolt out will be quite easy

I did much the same on my beetle last summer although hopefully this one will be nowhere near as bad - I ended up welding an 18" square section of floor in

 

[IMD]

Thanks Andy...I had a good poke around and its all pretty solid under there, but we shall see.

I imagine that you're correct about the welded cative nut in the box section. This has probably rusted to the bolt and when I unscrewed it, it stayed on the bolt and came away from the floor. So now I have a bolt with a nut fixed in position, that keeps on turning!

Any advice on drilling it out. Can this be done with a good qulity hand held Black & decker drill and normal metal drill bit, or do I need something more specialised?

 

[RodgerDodger]

I suspect that by the time he's cleaned up the rust under the carpet getting the bolt out will be quite easy

I did much the same on my beetle last summer although hopefully this one will be nowhere near as bad - I ended up welding an 18" square section of floor in

The joys heh

never tried welding myself.....but may have to learn - nothing to do with my current car of course - plan on getting another much older merc some day - as project.
I do love the big wafters - W126's

 

[andy_k]

clamp the bolt head in a mole wrench - you don't want it spinning around

make a small indent in the centre of the bolt's head to stop your drill spinning around

work with gradually larger drills untill the nut falls into the void - You probably won't be able to get it out but ideally you need to enlarge the hole to put a plate with a captive nut back in it's place.

The offer to help is open - if you want to do it 'quickly' I've got an angle grinder as well

 

[andy_k]

The joys heh

never tried welding myself.....but may have to learn - nothing to do with my current car of course - plan on getting another much older merc some day - as project.
I do love the big wafters - W126's

oh the floor was just the start of it - I replaced most of the bottom 4" of the car's bodywork

Welding is fun and can save you a lot of money - I bought our current Mig welder when Annie's old W124 failed it's MoT. The garage quoted £300 for welding. It took me about 4 hours , a sheet of steel (about a fiver from our local fabricators) and a bit of paint. So even after buying the welder we were in 'credit'

 

[grober]

With careful measurement you could drill out an "inspection hole" in the lowest panel which allow you to get a socket/mole wrench on to the spinning nut??

 

[Dieselman]

With careful measurement you could drill out an "inspection hole" in the lowest panel which allow you to get a socket/mole wrench on to the spinning nut??

Drill a pilot hole down from above to align it up easily.

 

[IMD]

With careful measurement you could drill out an "inspection hole" in the lowest panel which allow you to get a socket/mole wrench on to the spinning nut??

Nice idea..hadn't thought of that one..I shall get under the car tomorrow and have a play around for a while. Who knows, maybe the bolts just been playing hard to get today and will give up the game in the morning....as if!

All this for a leather interior...hope it looks and feels good when its in

 

[RodgerDodger]

Probably obvious but - maybe take out the opposite side first and have a peek under the carpet at the fixing - may give you a heads-up and allow you to plan

 

[IMD]

Thanks for all your help guys...would like to have a look today, but just been in hospital this morning for a knee op, so feeling a bit drowsy from the general anaesthetic! Don't think I'll be crawling around the car for a few days! Oh well..it can wait!

Ian

 

[popuptoaster]

once its out you can save *****ing about rewelding captive nuts in by just using a nut and bolt, but put the bolt in from the bottom and the nut on top, you dont get the threads rusting up then and it'll be easy to undo and if you want to you can always put a blob of weld on the bolt head underneath if you want to.

 

[bolide]

If it's the rear bolt of the front seat it anchors into a spring clip that is removeable. The spring clips slides off sideways. I'd grind the top off the bolt & buy a new bolt & spring clip from the dealer

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk