Re: Trashed driver's seat mount; now what?

["Ryan Hoitink" <hoitink@bytehead.com>]

----- Original Message -----
From: Chris Newbold <cnewbold@earthlink.net>
To: <quattro@audifans.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 1999 10:31 PM
Subject: Trashed driver's seat mount; now what?


> So I was trying to remove the driver's seat from my 1993 90
> to bolt in a 5-point harness. The front of the seat is held
> to the floor with two 6mm hex socket bolts which go down
> through the floor and engage nuts which are welded to the
> other side.
>
> The first of these bolts broke free fairly easily; the second,
> however, turned into a real mess. First, the hex socket almost
> stripped out (as these things seem wont to do). I finally got
> a sold fit and applied torque, and more torque and even more
> torque, but nothing budged. Then the welded nut broke loose.
>
> So, I had this bolt which just spun in the hole, and no way
> of reaching the nut. Realizing that I'd already reached the
> point of no return, I cut the bolt head off. The nut and what
> remained of the bolt fell into the cavity beneath the floor.
>
> How do I fix this? I have no idea how to secure that one side
> of the seat, short of cutting a hole in the floor pan from
> below so that I can put another nut on. I don't like that idea
> at all...
>
> This seems like another triumph of Team Doorhandle(TM). (It
> seems as if quite a lot of LockTite had been applied to these
> bolts, so that may explain why the weld failed...)
>
> Help!
>
> -Chris
> 1993 90CS 5sp 79k miles
>
>



    I have encountered this situation before.  Not with the seat, or even
with an Audi, but I have had some luck with using "J-nuts".  In case you've
never heard of them, they look like a small metal clip with a hole in the
middle.  They're available at any hardware store.  All you would have to do
is (maybe) make the hole slightly larger.  Then slide the nut on to one of
the sides and crank the seat down.  These may look kind weak, but, believe
me, they'll do the job.  Plus, once they're in, you'll never see them (in
case it matters).

Ryan Hoitink