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Can anyone help advise what the bolt threads are for the rear bench retaining bolts (that sit below the bench facing the rear footwells)?
Removed them on my Coupe during the leather - cloth seat swap and found the existing to be a bit worse for wear in the thread dept. Unfortunately the ePer drawing ls don’t list what the bolts are!
Not uncommon for these to experience wear due to the tight fit/angle. Could you attempt reclaiming the thread with a die? And tap the holes while you're at it....
I find a set of these useful on old coupé threads (the metal ones )
They'll be metric standards so take a rule and measure the diameter of the thread. Likely 8mm. Then measure the distance between each thread. Likely around 1.25mm
So you'll be after a M8 x 1.25 bolt using the numbers above. The other dimension you'll want is the length of thread. Again these tend to come in 5mm standards so go a little longer if you find that bolt is 19mm or something. I wouldn't try and recover the bolt as new are cheap as they're generic. Go on Ebay and you'll find loads of socket head screws
As for the car side, you'll need to follow Edinburgh's advice and run a tap through. Use a little grease to lubricate and go slow. Maybe 1 to 2 turns forwards and then 0.5/1 back to clear the swarf and dirt. Do take it slow as you're not cutting a new thread, but clearing the existing
Was indeed an M8x20 (metric course thread). Thankfully a machinist at work came to my aid and lent me a tap to re-tap the hole, new bolts fit perfectly.
Edinburgh we did try looking at the bolt but concluded they were too far gone with the material for the peaks lost. Next one will be the front seat bolts at the weekend.
Do you recommend applying lubricant/anti-seize to the seat bolt threads?
I feel like they should be protected with some sort of anti-seize but I don’t know what the threads in the chassis are and whether copper slip should be avoided to prevent galling.
One of the front seat bolts was lubricated (unknown grease) but the others were dry ????
Use a longer lever and slow intermittent pressure; or try tightening 1% to crack them.
No harm in a light lubricant on the front seat bolt but a) they are in a dry environment and b) you don't want dust and fluff sticking to them.
The issue with the rear seat bolts is lining-up the squab bracket holes with the threads, the bolts can go in crooked if you're not careful and the threads, and bolts, strip.
I don't think you've much risk of galling as the joints are fairly static once tight and the torque isn't high from memory so I think having it clean is most important. What may be good though is to seal the other side (and I can't remember which ones are blind or not). A dab of thick grease or a touch of wax oil maybe?
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