Seat Mounting Repair?

[Ooooner]

I have a problem with the driver's side seat in my GT. The front left nut, that is welded to the floor metal, where the nut is holding the seat bolt to the floor of the GT has begun to "rip" away. This is causing the seat to move a little whenever I shift gears, get in and out of the car, etc. The tear is just going to get worse.
I spoke to Harold this morning about a possible repair and he told me that he has had that same problem so I guess my problem isn't isolated. Has anyone had this problem before and how was it repaired? I was thinking of just getting it spot welded back but I'm not too sure how strong that will be.
Every time I shift gears, the seat "pops" where the metal is going back and forth. I want to get it fixed before it gets any worse.
Thanks...

[tomking]

Assuming your mounting area is not rusted, I would remove the seat and weld the area and grind smooth. You could lay patches over the metal and weld them on; that would only raise your seat mounts by the thickness of sheet metal. It is a fairly common malady and is readily fixed by welding. If you have some corrosion then that has to be dealt with for sure or it will simply come back.

[Ooooner]

Originally Posted by tomking Assuming your mounting area is not rusted, I would remove the seat and weld the area and grind smooth. You could lay patches over the metal and weld them on; that would only raise your seat mounts by the thickness of sheet metal. It is a fairly common malady and is readily fixed by welding. If you have some corrosion then that has to be dealt with for sure or it will simply come back.

Nope... No rust or corrosion to deal with. The metal around the nut is just tearing away. I was a little surprised when I first saw what was happening but then I realized from talking to different people that it is a common problem. I guess this is just a "weak" spot...

[MICAH1]

Roy,
I had that same problem, and had the nut spot welded. FYI: Make dang sure that the nut is in the same spot, and level. I had the misfortune of rushing the guy repairing and never got the screw in again. Now I have put in different type seats, and modified the mounts!!!

[namba209]

Roy, I had the same problem on Willit?, except it just tore out completely. Had the welder put the jigsaw piece back in place and welded it, used a grinder to smooth it out, then painted the whole interior. There's a pic of the repair somewhere in my Willit? Update thread. In your specific instance, I would stop drill the crack at both ends of the crack then weld the crack closed. If you get good penetration on the weld, it will be much stronger than before. IDK why it's only the left front nut plate that tears out, must be a design flaw.

[PROPEL]

See this thread.

[Ooooner]

Originally Posted by PROPEL See this thread.

Thanks, PROPEL. Good information and the pictures on the one post helps a lot.

[hrcollinsjr]

Originally Posted by namba209 IDK why it's only the left front nut plate that tears out, must be a design flaw.

I can't remember which side of mine ripped but I thought it was both. I repaired it over 25 years ago. The PO's nickname in the community was "widetrack" so maybe that had something to do with it. I just hoped to stay out of her way when she was coming down the road.

Harold

[BQS4]

Roy;
My solution, since I didn't have a welder (at the time) was to drill a hole through the floor of the GT, using the bad hole as a guide, in other words stuck the drill through the hole and drilled through. Took my dremel and made the hole, in the floor, big enough that I could get a "fender washer" through it. Got a longer bolt, went through the proper hole in the seat track, through the busted hole, through the fender washer and pulled it all tight with a nylock nut. Got a plastic plug for the hole I made and used non-hardening sealer to seal it and never had a problem again, and it was just as easy to take the seat out. But, that was just my way of doing it.

[markandson]

I liked the name of the other thread better, very descriptive . I was going to mention the two cogged adjusters instead of one, but it is in the other thread.

[Sparky73]

On my first GT, everything on the car was pretty much solid, including the floor boards. But for some strange reason, on the drivers side, one of the seat mounts had been messed up pretty bad. It was starting to rust AND one of the previous owners did quite a hack job on it. My dad being a tool and die maker is good at making parts. So he took measurements and he cut and re-bent all new "mounts" for the seats. Not sure on the thickness.. but it was at least twice as thick compared to stock. Lining those nuts up PERFECT was a little difficult though.. lol

[Paul]

Originally Posted by Sparky73 My dad being a tool and dye maker is good at making parts.

Don't let you dad see this.... I think he'd be pretty upset that you didn't spell DIE correctly..........