SBlackfoot

So I took all of my seats out last fall to recover them. The fronts are done and back in place. I'm less than impressed with the Hawks kit but that's another story.

While yanking the back seats (single piece back) I broke both bolts that hold the shoulder belt guide in place on one side. They broke down inside the seat right where the threads start, nothing to grab onto. I just tried to drill one out and broke the damn bit in the bolt. *sigh* I was hoping to avoid recovering the back seats too, they look fine... If I do take the cover off, can I get at the bolts from the inside? Hopefully I can cut off the excess (stupidly long bolt, it's like a tooth!), drill out the bolt, and chase the threads, but it's a waste of time if I can't even access the area from the inside. What does the back seat back bare frame look like?

SBlackfoot

To answer my own question, those bolts ARE accessible from the inside. I hacked off the rest of the bolts and drilled 'em out. Butchered one of the spot welded nuts but there should be enough threads left to hold. I chased all four holes with an M6x1 tap. Wow a lot of junk came out of there. Now I've gotta find four new bolts.

Who knew that the seat back was plastic? *shrug*

scottakacrash

I know this is an old thread, but I just did the same thing on my 89 GTA over the weekend. One of the bolts holding the seat belt guide on the LH split rear seat back broke off with the first turn of the wrench. The three remaining bolts came out with A LOT of effort. A ridiculous amount of Loctite was on them. I was able to drill the majority of the bolt out, but then the threaded bolt remover broke off in the same hole(!). I'm ready to pull the cover off to see if I can get to it from the inside of the seat. The seat covers will need to be replaced anyway so I'm not really concerned about keeping them intact. Has anyone else done this?

Abubaca

iTrader: (3)

Yeah, I had one of the 4 break off as well. Mine had about 1/8" showing. While it's not holding the belt guide down, it does still stick up into the hole of the guide, making sure it can't pivot on the one GOOD bolt. I messed with it for an hour trying to figure something out. Ultimately, I decided that cosmetically it was fine, functionally day in and day out it was fine, and in the case of an accident, with rear belts not being legally required for adults, and the 3 main seat belt points all being still totally functioning.....I decided to let it lie. Lol.

Scorpner

iTrader: (4)

If the locktite is the issue, I've been heating up difficult floor bolts with a torch which makes a big difference on the amount of torque needed to remove them. I'm not sure if that applies to the bolts you guys are removing so food for thought.