Rear seat belt bolt

toddu · 03-05-2009, 01:30 PM

The bolt is loose (the outer rear belt), but there is something on the back of it still that is not letting it come out.

What can this be?

Todd

austin552 · austin552's Garage

http://dcauto.gotdns.com/illustration/index/161095315

Kaliv · Kaliv's Garage

Hmm...should be nothing I believe. May sound stupid, but it the carpet snagging on it?

toddu · 03-05-2009, 02:03 PM

No, no carpet on it.

So, according to austin552's link it looks like there are some washer's etc. on the "nut" side. I suppose that *could* be it, but I can see the bolt where it enters the hole on the side of the body. Is the bung further in (so, there is some empty space in there)? Would any spacers be within the void, or should the be on the interior of the car? Sounds like metal hitting metal when I try to pull the bolt out.

Hard to see anything due to the belt anchor being on the bolt.

Todd

toddu · 03-05-2009, 03:57 PM

Is the "bung" right in the side of the seat pan (for lack of better terminology)? Or does it go through a hole and then thread into something closer to the wheel well?

My bolt is flopping around, and I can barly see behind the belt anchor, and there appears to be a hole a bit larger than the bolt, nothing threaded though.

Todd

912rustbucket · 912rustbucket's Garage

The "nut" for the seat belt bolt is welded to a plate that is in turn welded to the body. Only way it can come loose is via rust or breakage. In either case, it will require some welding to fix properly

toddu · 03-05-2009, 05:10 PM

And I assume this plate/bolt would not be accesible at all from the outside?

If this is the case, I'm trying to figure out how I would unthread the rest of the bolt.

Would be odd if this was the case, because the bolt did unscrew a bit (I can push it in and out a bit more than 1/4 inch), but something is preventing it from comming out any further.

Todd

ossiblue · 03-05-2009, 06:07 PM

Unless they changed the design on the later cars, the welded nut for the outer belt should be able to be seen from the outside of the car, via the wheel well. You may have to remove your wheel to see clearly but it is visible on my cars--up to 1975.

DRACO A5OG · DRACO A5OG's Garage

Place some shims or crowbar (BFS) between the tub and washer to put pressure on that bolt on the other side.

The only thing is, if it is a broken nut, it will drop off then you will have other issues. IMHO.

toddu · 03-05-2009, 08:12 PM

So, I decided the next step was to get the belt reel off so I could see what was going on behind it.

I have a feeling the weld on the bung broke (I think). Not sure if you can tell from this picture, but the widest part closest to the wall spins around freely with what's left of the bolt. I'm assuming that's not part of the bolt?

The back seats are staying out, so I don't know if I'm all too concerned (seat belts won't be going back in). A bolt-in roll bar might be in the distant future, but that would use the seat back mounts, and not the seat belt mounts?