stripped seat bolt hole (can i re-tap it?)

[Guest TurboSedan]

the front drivers seat in my Cutlass has a stripped bolt hole. it's the front left bolt hole that's stripped (nearest the hood release lever). it's a very irritating problem because the seat leans way back on the left side and it's uncomfortable (and probably not very safe).

 

anyway, can i re-tap this hole? is there enough material there to do this? i'm going to give it a try tomarrow; i'll probably just try to tap it out to the next bigger size bolt.....if that is possible. has anyone else here done this?

 

any input very much welcome, thanks.

joshua

[Intlcutlass]

If your going to put in a different size bolt, you can re-tap it. If you want to use the same size bolt, you will have to add some material in there before you re-tap it. I bet you could either use some JB weld, let it harden, then re-tap it. Or, you could take it to a machine shop, take the seat out, and ask them to hit it with a welder, just to add some material there, then re-tap it.

Personally, because your talking about a bolt hole.... I would go with the JB weld. There is probably not that much material missing, and you could do in in under an hour....

 

Good luck man.....

[Guest TurboSedan]

i just got done tapping it out and it seemed to work out just fine. i tapped it out to a M10x1.25 bolt and used a bolt that was about 1" long that i bought at the hardware store. i used a crush washer also.

joshua

[musthavemuzk]

if it comes down to it couldn't you drill it out and heli-coil it?

 

Monty