Livefreeandrive

Hi, My passenger front bolts are stripped. I am about to head to the hardware store. Any tricks/tips?
Steve

tbennett017

Are you having trouble getting them out? If you're planning new ones anyway, you can use a "sharpened" screwdriver and hammer it into the edge, forcing it to turn, just to get it loose... either that or grind a slot in the top.

Our local hardware store (which is a Tru Value ) has an amazing selection of hardware, and has the correct hex-head bolts. I don't know if it requires hardened or not... Anyone else?

ilko

The stock seat bolts are useless. They are made of cheese.

Get some steel bolts. This is what you need:

Livefreeandrive

A few weeks ago I needed to replace many broken off grease fittings on my sissor lift. My 86 year old friend showed up with a zip lock full of "easy outs". He used own a body shop on LI,NY and these little gizmos worked like a charm. i am going to go hunt down a set of them and then find some replacements!

Rocket Rob

Be careful with the easy out on these screws. I had a frozen seat bolt and ended up breaking the easy out in the bolt. I ended up using a die grinder with a cutting wheel to grind off the bolt head. Once the seat was out, the remaining bolt unscrewed with my fingers. Grrrrr..... Anyway, I replaced them with standard 8mm allen bolts from my local hardware store.

benzyne

I just drilled off the head of the bolt, removed the seat, then used locking pliers to get the rest out.

Marc Shaw

I replaced my seat belt bolts with Grade 8 bolts for extra safety.

Marc

Rocket Rob

+1 Mark - I used Grade 8 bolts too. I also suggest trying using a drill to grind the head off. Maybe you will have better luck than I did. I wasn't able to do so because of the size of my drill and the angle needed. That's why I resorted to the die grinder. Since then, I have purchased a set of reverse direction drills, which might be worth trying.

Livefreeandrive

Hey! I am back! I won the war of the bolts!!!! I started going to big with the easy outs? I finally started drilling a smaller/deeper hole and finally yanked the ******* out. I went with some grade 8s with a larger allen head size. It was a real pain in the neck!!! See my new post about fire extiguisher mounts with pics in a few minutes!
THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Steve

Bates

Hey all, I sell fasteners for a living so this is a VERY interesting thread, IMHO!

Please excuse the .

Would you ever order exact replacement fasteners online or always run to the hardware store and find something close? Clearly machine screw threads must match, but what about all of the "black" interior tapping/sheet metal screws?

All comments welcome .

Ag02M5

Does anyone think they are the butter material for any specific reason such as shearing or designed to have some stretch?

Bates

That's a great question! I only see soft fasteners in designed failure applications. Seat failure doesn't sound good to me.

The fact that they are so soft is counter-intuitive in today's litigation prone society. Everybody thinks stronger is better, though you can get to a point where stronger is a waste of money. If your fastener is many times stronger than the material it is bolted through, than that material will likely "fail" before the bolt will. Thus, if your fastener is just one grade above the parent material, your are likely in good shape.

Several posters replaced this bolt with a "grade 8". You can see on the bag where it reads M8 x M20 7984-8.8 . The "8.8" tell you the grade which is a EURO (DIN) spec equivaent to a roughly a US grade 5. If it read 12.9, that is like a US grade 8.

Not sexy stuff, but pays the bills.

Rocket Rob

Would I order replacement fasteners online? It depends. If the similar item is readily available at the hardware store, why would I order it online? I then have to pay shipping costs for a small item and plus I have to wait a week to get it. The local hardware store is cheaper and gives instant gratification.

If the fasteners are specialized, then yes. I have purchased exact replacements. Recently, I replaced my steering rack and ordered new high strength bolts to attach it to the car.

I doubt I would ever order sheet metal screws. I have a local hardware store that has a fantastic selection of fasteners. Picture your typical mom & pop hardware store but as the size of a grocery store. It has a wider variety of sizes and types than your typical big box home improvement store.

My two cents. I hope this helps.

Livefreeandrive

Good questions.......the factory bolts are soft and can be drilled and stripped easily? The fellow at my Ace hardware in smallville, NH pulled out a magnifying glass and read the numbers off a good sample I brought in. I wound with black bolts that look like the one's in Ilko's picture. They have a larger allen head size and tighten up with confidence. Since I do not plan to have the extinguisher in the car permanantely, I want to be able to "use" the bolts once in a while without worrying about the threads. What really surprised me was how tight somebody torqued them since they were so stripped?

dfinnegan

Seems so odd that Porsche would install "inferior" bolts for so critical an application. Most everything else on the car is bullet-proof.

Is this simply a case of knowing that the rails will fail before the bolts so why spend the money on better bolts? Or, is there a reason for specifying the softer bolts.

Just a curiosity. Anyone know anything more?

Cheers,
Dave