I'm sure a lot of us have had a broken seat stud. Some may know how to repair this and some may not. If you don't already know the seat stud is welded inside a channel that is welded to the floorpan. What does that say, well you can't get to the seat stud without some work. I'm going to show you how I do this kind of repair if you don't already know how to repair this.
Here it the troublemaker, a broken right front seat stud on the right seat.
First thing you want to do is put the Fiero up on jack stands so you can work under the car, if your lucky to have a hoist it makes this much easier. Next roll down the window on the side you need to do the repair you'll need the room. Disconnect the battery you will be doing some welding and you don't want a dead battery from the door open.
Ok let's go! Remove the seat, seat belt buckle, lapbelt lower and upper bolts, side trim, center console, shifter plate and radio console. Next remove the carpet.
Time to go under the car and unbolt any clutch or brake lines that a close to the broken stud and very carefully bend them out of the way. Remember the lines are old and maybe rusty so do it careful.... don't foget to do this step or you can add a set of lines to this repair also.
Now back inside and grind the broken stud flat with the channel. Drill a small pilot hole like a 3/16 drill would be fine, drill all the way through the floor so you see the drill out the bottom of the car. Next take a 2" metal cutting hole saw and cut from the bottom up, use the pilot hole you drilled to center the hole saw. Don't get crazy and drill through both panels. Take your time go slow and cut the hole in the floor. No beer yet you need a good head on this cut. Make sure you save the plug you cut out... You will need it later to fill the hole.
Ok you can now go and take a bathroom break and have a beer........
******************************BEER BREAK**********************************
Ok back to work..
Next take the 5/16 drill bit and drill out the broken seat stud to allow the new seat bolt ( Metric Bolt M8 X 1.25 X 20 mm long ) to slide through it. Now go back under and look at the head of the broken seat stud, if it's not rusted and still good looking your in luck. I've never had a bad one yet. Get the paint off the head of the seat stud under the car however you can, die grinder with a small sanding wheel works great. Grind the new bolt head to take of any coating that may be on it so you can get a clean weld.
Now put the new seat bolt from the bottom up and put some washers and a nut and tighten it down so you can weld it straght and not fight with it.
Time to whip out the trusty mig welder and go under the car and weld the new seat stud in. Weld all the flats on the bolt head, and make sure you get a good weld, you only want to do this once.
Ok, let it cool off a little and remove the nut and washers. It's ok to pat yourself on the back and brag a little.
After it has cooled down spray some good primer on it, and then some kind of paint to keep it from rusting.
Well it's not over yet... You still have a big hole in the floor.. You can't leave it open, if you do you'll have water, mice and what ever else riding with you.
Here is the plug you cut out. Clean the paint off hole and the plug edges for welding.
Time to weld the plug in. Tack weld side to side to make sure you don't warp the plug then weld the center pilot hole up. Grind all the welds smooth and make sure you use a good self etching primer, seam sealer on the patch and some paint of your liking.
The seam sealer going on. I could have made it a little smoother I think.
Ok put the lines back very carefully not to damage them. Now your done under the car.
I would clean up all the seat studs and paint the area as needed to make it look nice and protect it.
Put the capet and all the goodies and the seat back in. Go back and hook up the battery.
Time to sit back and smile. Test it out.... sit in it... Go get you partner and have them sit in it as I bet they told you to fix it anyway...
********************** Non Welding Way Only***************************************
If you don't have a welder you can do everything in my notes here but don't weld the stud in, just use it like a bolt from the bottom and nut on top. Install the hole plug back in using a 3M Auto Bond, it's a very good product. Make sure everything is clean and wear gloves as it don't like to come off fingers. If your not doing the welding way make sure you put everything back together before you bond the plug or you won't be able to bolt the seat back in.
I hope this helps you.
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[This message has been edited by Snapperhead (edited 05-05-2010).]
