Hello all, Your thinking to yourself - "Is taking out 8 bolts really THAT hard?!"... Well supposedly it is... if you're doing it wrong. I've read and seen way too many people fuck up this relatively simple task. What should of taken them half an hour, end up taking them a whole day to fix... From rounding off the inside hex, then trying to take it out with multi-grips... or snapping the head of the bolt clean off, then having to use a bolt extractor like easyout... jesus I've even seen some noodle use a 4 inch angle grinder on the bloody rails... he had to chuck his can of coke on the carpet because it bloody caught fire lol... Anyways - I've taken the time to make this tech article on how to remove your front seats the easy way and hopefully it saves someone here some heartache. ----- Intro Alright the first thing you need to know is about the bolt's themselves. There in-hex head bolts and there inner diameter size is 6mm. From factory they are covered (more like marinated) in this blue compound shit that acts like a thread lock exactly like locite which makes them super tight to get out. The bolts are all pretty long except for one of the passenger bolts - here's a picture of what your up against: ----- Being in-hex head bolt's people automatically go to grab a hex key/allen key and bung it in and swing off the fucken thing like they're He-Man... I'm here to tell you, you're doing it wrong... if you go the standard allen key job, there is strong chance your going to stuff up somehow, it can be done sure... but more of a greater chance of stuffing it up... Why you say? you got barely any leverage! You start swinging of the allen key with all your force, the strain makes you start pulling up on the allen key - then you end up stuffing up the inside of the hex bolt, congrats your now up shit creek... and I'm not going to help you - So don't just use an allen key or you will fail- ----- Leverage makes all the difference in this task, you've got to use a RATCHET for this... for the simple yet obvious reason: You can go read up on newton's law on wikipedia, I'm only here to explain how to take two bloody seats out ----- The Hex Socket Alright, so we have covered that were going to need a ratchet, but now the problem that we need a hex socket huh? I've devised of 3 ways of getting the socket below, from simplest to hardest. ------ 1 - GO BUY ONE lol its as simple as that really... you can buy them separately from REPCO in the 6mm size for $12 - or you can go out and buy a full metric set from any tool shop or hardware store for about $40-$55... I would recommend tho that you should go for the short length size, and if possible go for a 3/8sq Drive... 1/2sq could be alright but when you add in a bulky ratchet you could be up for problems getting it under the seat. ------ 2 - Use a screwdriver bit & 1/4 Socket If your like me chances are you to have some of those "29 piece screw driver set" things laying around the shed, go check them out! Chances are you might find a 6mm hex bit! If your lucky enough you've haven't taken them out of there numbered order After that find a 1/4 size socket in preferably 3/8sq Drive, put them both together and your set! (This is actually the what I used to do my front seats for this tech article) ----- 3. Cut a 6mm allen key and use a 6mm socket Don't laugh... this stupidly works... if your hard up for cash and can't buy one, and you don't have the items in number 2... do it this way. Cut about an inch off the long end of an allen key (because its the less abused end), hacksaw or angle grind so its still straight on both ends... and find a 6mm socket in the biggest sq Drive you can find (chances are 1/4 or 3/8 if your lucky)... works the same way as number 2 would no problems, I've actually had to do this for head bolts and it done the job alright... but this would be a last resort because a 6mm is small and flimsy and could break under the force. ----- Procedure Alright so now you've got the right tool for the job, now its time for some lube (doesn't this sentence sound like it came right out of a porno movie? ). First off you've got to have your seat working correctly on the rails so it can move all the way forward and all the way back to get to the front and rear bolts, if you've lost the front seat adjuster handle to make this work, go to the wreckers and grab another one and connect it back on because its wayyyy too much effort to move the seat without it (I tried, unless you're a midget with small hands - don't bother). Get yourself a big old can of WD-40 with the little red straw attachment and squirt the bolts, in the hex holes themselves (ill explain later), on the sides of the bolt head just a litte, you don't want a stack because it makes the car stink like WD-40 for days. Next and the most important bit to making this job easier, get underneath the car and search for the four seat bolt threads sticking out and give them a good soaking and maybe use a rag to take off all that built up grime on them. Push the straw right up against it up the top of each bolt for the full penetrating power. You might have to jack up the car to get to the bolts closest to the tranny or if your car is 'chop spring lowered bro', but once your under there the bolts should stick out like dogs balls... here's a picture anyways: ----- While your giving that WD-40 time to soak in, go around to each in-hex bolt hole with either a engineers scribe or a couple of tooth picks and clean out every little bit of crap thats stuck inside that in-hex head hole (this is where that WD-40 squirt helps)... Its important that your hex socket gets 'balls deep' inside those holes, if its only half way in and you put some force you run the risk of slipping it out and stripping the hex inside. You wouldn't believe the amount of crap I found in just one of the drivers seat bolts, the hex socket wouldn't even go in it was that filled... take a look: ----- Finally after an hour or so of letting that WD-40 soak in you should be ready to remove the bolts, remember make as much room as you can by moving the seat on the rails all the way back to get to the front bolts and moving it all the way forward to get to the rear bolts. Also you can raise the drivers seat with that side lever to get right under properly: You have stacks of space for the drivers because of that lever - but you can't lift the passengers so remember don't go for big chunky ratchets or you might come unstuck trying to get under the front of the passengers seat. ----- Set the hex socket in, remember that they can still be pretty tight because of the locite... so give it a slow anti-clockwise pull. If after a while of doing this (remember these bolts are long!) if you feel yourself lifting on the ratchet stop and have a break, this isn't a race... if you damage the in-hex bolt now it was totally pointless reading all this... a little bit of squealing and jolting while turning is pretty normal, just easy at it and you should have it out in no time. Each bolt you take out chuck in a small container, make a bath of WD-40 for them to sit in and soak. ---- Seat out & job done Once the seat is out, I'd probably recommend you get an old tooth brush and give those bolt holes a good clean with WD-40 so it makes it heaps easier for when you put the new ones in (if you are)... just have a look at the build up of locite the top of this bolt hole, its mental... : ----- Thats all there is to it... who would believe you could write so much about taking out 8 fucking bolts huh? - I hope this helps someone, or else I'm going to be angry. If you have anything to add I can chuck it in. Cheers, Dazza102 -I finished writing this at 1am, if I've stuffed up spelling or grammar I'm sorry... Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Good work Dazza

yeah definately esaier to do it this way dont even bother with allen keys..

lol. i had trouble getting them out the first time and eventually went for option 2 after rounding out 1 allan key and then turning the next one into what resembled a piece of licorice (and yes i tried the wd4o and cleaning the bolts) just couldn't crack the buggers. you might want to add that when replacing the seats use loctite again because i didn't and one bolt is coming loose. its unsafe / defectable. lol. i had trouble getting them out the first time and eventually went for option 2 after rounding out 1 allan key and then turning the next one into what resembled a piece of licorice (and yes i tried the wd4o and cleaning the bolts) just couldn't crack the buggers. you might want to add that when replacing the seats use loctite again because i didn't and one bolt is coming loose. its unsafe / defectable.

And what happens when you break the threaded square section off from underneath the car? Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

nice work mate. always a pr1ck of a job, but, with the right tools as you've pointed out makes for an easier task.

Cheers mate, just changed the front seats and your method worked a treat.

Quote: Originally Posted by 5spdvl And what happens when you break the threaded square section off from underneath the car? how the hell did you do that? retard ! :P Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

how does the front right passenger seat bolt come out?? I cant see it I can just see 2 little metal heads sort of thing ???

joshwa - are you moving the seat on the rails all the way forward and back? that passenger right hand front bolt its on a bracket connected to the rail - infront of it and down into the carpet... check down around the carpet at the front of that rail. Daz

great write up, used this method today, was a piece of piss. thanks!

great article used it today but now i cant drive my car till the new seats arrive Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

You could always use coca cola instead of wd40, works a treat just put a rusty bolt in a glass of coke and watch what happens , USED TO USE IT ON MY SEMI TRAILERS good old coke imagine what it does to your stomach.

i drink at least 5 cans of that a day... its addicting ****.

how do you remove the back seats Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

I used a breaker bar over my allen key... no worries!!! (probably would have been better with the ratchet though)

i love you!!!!!!! i tried takin the seats outta my vr the other day and coodnt budge them, using your method was easy as!!! so youve helped at least one bunny :P

when i got my vl the top of the seat bolt was threaded, any idea's on how to get it out?

Instead of going out buying a speacial tool, angle grind off a piece of 6mm allen key and glue it into a lil 6 mil socket and you have an instant seat bolt tool.

Quote: Originally Posted by aace when i got my vl the top of the seat bolt was threaded, any idea's on how to get it out? the inside was threaded out totally? I'd attempt it to undo it with a pair of vice grips, it would be slow, tedious and awkward as fuck... but once its out head down to the wreckers and get a better one. Id put grinding and drilling out at the bottom of the list as a last resort, you'd have to be ultra careful to not damage the rails and making a happy interior fire Quote: Originally Posted by Boyracer Instead of going out buying a speacial tool, angle grind off a piece of 6mm allen key and glue it into a lil 6 mil socket and you have an instant seat bolt tool. like idea number 3 Some original photos have not been recovered yet.