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Zapo

Member Since: 22 Feb 2023
Location: Basque Country
Posts: 11

1995 Defender 110 300 Tdi CSW Coniston Green

Seat bolts turning freely

I'm having a little trouble removing the two rear bolts from my driver's seat. Both bolts turn freely. I've done some research here and there, even on this forum, and I know that it's possible for the nutplate underneath to turn on itself when the rivet is broken, but when I slide my hand underneath and turn the bolt at the same time, the plate doesn't seem to move.

Unfortunately, this is the battery compartment with my two batteries inside (engine and auxiliary), so it's difficult to get any access. No matter how hard I turn my head, I can't find a solution (or even understand why the bolt turns on itself like that).

I've attached a few photos, and if anyone has a miracle solution, I owe them a beer.

Sorry if I'm using the wrong terms, but I'm French and can be a little short of technical jargon.

Take care of yourself

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14th Oct 2024 9:24am

Dinnu

Member Since: 24 Dec 2019
Location: Lija
Posts: 3418

2012 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 CSW Santorini Black

Are you sure you have a nutplate and not a rivnut in the underside of the bolts? I do not know when the changeover from nutplate to rivnut was done.

If it is a rivnut, best try is to hold the rivnut with a gripper from the underside. Sorry, its not what you probably want to hear. 1988 90 Hard Top, 19J Diesel Turbo, Shire Blue - Restoration ongoing
2012 90 CSW, 2.2TDCI, Santorini Black

14th Oct 2024 9:44am

landy andy

Member Since: 15 Feb 2009
Location: Ware, Herts
Posts: 5724

2006 Defender 110 Td5 USW Zermatt Silver

What he said.

You will have threaded inserts set into the seat box, and the bolt threaded into that. You will need to grip the insert with something like mole grips, to stop it rotating and then undo bolt.

14th Oct 2024 9:47am

Mo Murphy

Member Since: 01 Jun 2008
Location: Letchworth Garden City, Herts
Posts: 2241

1984 Defender 90 BMW M57 3.0 Diesel HT Auto Pennine Grey

If it is a nut plate there and not a riv nut, then you'll need to get something underneath the bolt head to exert some upward pressure on the bolt whilst undoing it. A flat blade screwdriver if there is space or a flat scraper tapped in under the head if there isn't.
HTH
Mo The Land Rover 90 - Many are called, few are chosen.

50 Shades of Pennine Grey

14th Oct 2024 9:52am

Zapo

Member Since: 22 Feb 2023
Location: Basque Country
Posts: 11

Hello, sorry for the late reply!
In the end it was indeed the plate holding the bolt that turned on itself (I'm not sure of the name in English, based on the LRworkshop diagrams, it seemed to be called nutplate).

In the end, using the Dremel, I managed to cut off the head, slide my hand over and catch the plate below. I'd bent it trying to pierce the rivet, but I managed to get it straight again and put a rivet back in to re-attach it. I spent 2 days on it, but I won the battle.

I had tried using pliers to hold the plate in place, but the space between the two batteries (which I admittedly had no desire to dismantle) was too small to get a good grip.

16th Oct 2024 7:47am

landy andy

Member Since: 15 Feb 2009
Location: Ware, Herts
Posts: 5724

Nice to hear you got it sorted even though you needed a bit of LR engineering. 👍🏻👍🏻

16th Oct 2024 7:59am

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