Broken seat frame mount bolt in body

[Mmcguir3]

Hey guys,

I recently bought a 75 and I am in the process of reupholstering the seats. When taking the driver seat out it appeared that the front right bolt was missing however it was broken off. I've tried a bolt extractor but it only looks like its gotten worse. This is the bolt that looks to go into the cross member below the floor. Any tips or fixes would be greatly appreciated. Pretty new to this whole thing…

Thanks in advance,

Mike

 

[Pops68]

soak it in PB Blaster for a few days...try different kinds of bolt extractors??

Pops

 

[Bferrari]

Set a nut on top of what is remaining of the bolt and weld the two together through the center of the nut. This does two things. One, gives you something to wrench on to extract it and two, heat cycles the broken bolt which a lot of times helps free it up.

 

[Mmcguir3]

Appreciate the input. In peaking through the floor pan down to the crossrail it looks like the bracket that the weld nut is underneath is cracked toward the front of the rail (possibly from me beating on it…). Major issue?
Should I cut a small section of the floor pan out around that area to repair that bracket that holds the weld nut. I don't have much experience with a welder but wouldn't be opposed to giving it a try. Another option I was wondering about was a rivnut? Any thoughts? If thats an extremely dumb idea let me know.

Thanks

 

[RustBeltRefugee]

I don't think a rivnut is a bad idea. As long as the combination of the floor pan and nut plate are thin enough for the rivnut to grip on to. I think the original thread is 5/16-18 but someone will hopefully correct me if I am wrong.

Don't know if this helps but here is a build thread I came across that some good pictures of the floor support.

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236070

My floor is like Swiss cheese and it is hard to even tell where the original holes were. I installed weld nuts in a non-stock location since I am installing pro car seats with home made brackets.

 

[Bferrari]

Here is a pic showing the floor braces and the seat mounts. I would try to salvage what yo have but if you don't have any luck then a rivnut will work.

 

[Mmcguir3]

Thanks for the visual. Awesome build thread by the way. Anxious to see your finished truck.