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nobbyclark

Member Since: 19 Jan 2011
Location: Cumbria
Posts: 52

Fitting new front seats

I've bought a pair of Exmoor trim front seats but am having trouble removing the existing ones! The current two are a pair of vinyl seats that look like they are from a commercial Defender - same size and shape as my new Techno seats, but trimmed in (torn and worn) vinyl. The runners are held on with 4 bolts and I can remove the 2 bolts nearest to the door, but the other 2 just turn and won't come out. Is there a nut underneath that I need to secure in order to get the bolt out? Or do I need to try some darker arts like heating the bolt or even drilling it out?

17th May 2021 1:59pm

Dinnu

Member Since: 24 Dec 2019
Location: Lija
Posts: 3425

2012 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 CSW Santorini Black

Earlier vehicles have a nut welded on to a plate and the plate is held by a small aluminum rivet. Unsure if it is the same on Td5, if yes, possible that the rivet has disintegrated and the plate/nut is spinning with the bolt. Should be easy to see from below. If working alone, then you need to remove the inspection hatch under the cubby/middle seat. 1988 90 Hard Top, 19J Diesel Turbo, Shire Blue - Restoration ongoing
2012 90 CSW, 2.2TDCI, Santorini Black

17th May 2021 2:15pm

Beero

Member Since: 05 Jan 2021
Location: Southampton
Posts: 21

I had this with the two inboard bolts on each seat on my TD5. The ones in the boxes under the seats don't get rusty and seize up like the others. Because the thread is exposed and gets rusty it won't easily screw through the rivnuts so you have to either access the rivnuts from underneath or take out the central access lid. I held the rivnuts with Mole grips, some call them Vice grips. Refit with new bolts and the rivnuts should tighten up again.

17th May 2021 9:29pm

nobbyclark

Member Since: 19 Jan 2011
Location: Cumbria
Posts: 52

Thanks for the suggestions - will have another go at the weekend!

18th May 2021 11:06am

nobbyclark

Member Since: 19 Jan 2011
Location: Cumbria
Posts: 52

Quick update: I used mole grips to hold the nut under the car body and managed to extract the 2 bolts on the inner side of the passenger seat. Re-attaching them to the new seat frame was a bit tricky as the mole grips kept falling off. So I gripped the bolt inside the car instead and fastened the nut from below using a 13mm socket.

And to enormous surprise and delight, the 4 bolts for the driver's seat were all threaded through the body and don't have a nut at the end. Took 15 mins to change the seat vs about 90 for the passenger side.

I've now discovered that the torn/worn vinyl seats were mounted on extended runners as I'm sitting closer to the wheel than before. A job for another day to re-use the extended runners and also wire up the heating elements. Hopefully won't need that capability for a few months...

24th May 2021 8:18am

Beero

Member Since: 05 Jan 2021
Location: Southampton
Posts: 21

Good. Glad you got sorted

24th May 2021 6:54pm

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