We are trying to take the seats of a '68 Chevelle so that we can repair the floor on the car. My Son was out there today trying to get the blots loose on the front 2 bucks, but they are rusted badly. On the drive side, he broke the head off one of the bolts, and 2 other are turning but not coming out. Some of the bolts he can't turn at all while some he can not even get a socket to size on the bolt heads.

Any advice/help/suggestions is more then welcome on this. Thanks!

Cut them off with a saw/torch then drill and tap new holes. Good luck.

Thanks for the tip. I guess I hoping for an easy way out on this, but I'm not sure what else can be done.

I have taken a hack saw blade by it's self on something like this so you can cut right next to the floor. Of course, if you can grab a hold of it with some GOOD vice grips. When the bolt breaks, that is a freebe. It is much better for the bolt to break and get it out of the way than to be fighting it and still have to drill it out or weld a new nut in floor.

I don't feel like going out and laying on the ground to look at where those bolts come thru, can you see the nuts? If you can, that would be the best place to cut them. A cut off wheel on a die grinder. If you don't want to get up real close to the floor,cut off most of the nut and then just grind off the rest until it is flush with the floor pan.

Brian - The problem is, I have the Camaro in the garage and the Chevelle outside. It's been in the "teens" here temp wise ... too cold to work outside. I'll go out there tomorrow and take a look (or a pic) and get back to you on this. I know these seats were going to be a problem when we bought the car. Thanks.
--Rob
P.S. Welcome to the East Coast (at least for your Skylark)!

It was dark when I got home from work, but yes I see the nut (at least the front ones) from the bottom of the car. The nut is right up against the floor pan.

Here is just and example of the rust we're up against here:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v206/error3b/chevelle_pics/02317372.jpg

I have to say, I DO know how good I have it. I have never owned a car in my life that had rust like that! That Skylark I had, I could have pulled the carpet up and waxed the floor!

Ok, if you can grab the bolt top with vice grips, break the darn thing off, then deal with the nut later. Are you going to be replacing the floor? If you are, chisel a circle around the bolt.

The bolt also looks like it is in such bad shape you could chisel the head off. Use a nice sharp chisel that is large enough to go across the head. Use a HEAVY hammer, the bigger the better. And just whack the thing off of the top of the seat base "shaving" the head off.

Yes, living out in San Fran I would have to say you have it pretty good! ;) This is a project car that my 15 yr. son and I picked up from down in Maryland for $1500. Something we can work on together that will be for him. The rest of the car is not as bad, but the interior is going to be a challenge, for sure. This isn't called the rust belt for nothing :rolleyes:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v206/error3b/chevelle_pics/?action=view&current=100_0882.jpg

I have a 350 that I pulled out my Camaro that we will do a top half rebuild on and replace the Chevelle's 307 with that.
Thanks for the advice and the help.

Your photo link doesn't open for me, what is it?

Sorry about that Brian. The link was just a picture of the whole car. Here is the picture without the link.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v206/error3b/chevelle_pics/100_0882.jpg

--Rob

If there's anything left of the bolt sticking up, and you have access to a MIG welder, you can weld a nut to it. It's usually a bit finnicky to do, but I have removed many broken bolts that way. That way you'll have a nice, new bolt head on it, and as an added bonus the heat from the welding will help to loosen the bolt.

When a bolt is turning but won't come out, I usually try to pull it while turning it. For example, you can pry on the bracket, or try to stick a thin knife blade or a screwdriver under the washer or the bolt head.

Olle - And there lies the delimia. I can do a fair amount of things, but welding is not one of them. I'm trying to save the floor the best we can with having the go get it welded, until we have more $$$ to spend. Maybe it's time I broke and just took a class at the VoTec.

I'll try the "pry and pull" trick on the seat bolts. At this point I'll try near anything to get those bad boys out of there.

I wouldn't worry about the bolts. Cut out the floor and replace. If you must, just use a cutoff wheel and chop the seat brackets out.