advice needed on stripped screw

[Douglas]

okay, this query is for my 114 sedan and not my 113, but it could potentially apply to a 113.

one of the screws that holds the driver's seat down to the floor won't screw down entirely because it's partially stripped. as a consequence, the seat is slightly loose.

i know i could shim the screw to reduce the "play," but that changes the angle of the seat.

does anyone have any suggestions about how i can fix this problem?

thanks in advance.

[Tom]

Doug,

You can remove the seat and re-tap the thread.  There are Heli coil kits that include the tap, inserting mandrel and stainless steel thread inserts that expand into the threaded hole and make a nice new thread.

It's not hard.

Best,

Tom

[hands_aus]

hey Doug,
What is stripped the screw or the hole that it screws into?
Why not replace the screw?
Alternately could you pack some washers under the head of the screw that would alter the part of the thread being used but it would not alter the angle of your seat.

Bob(Brisbane,Australia)

[Douglas]

bob,

it's the hole that's stripped. it basically won't let the screw work its last few turns. consequently, there's "play" in the screw (and the seat).

my previous solution was to place washers underneath the screw as you suggested. the problem was that it changed the seat angle since i had to make the base higher on two of its four corners.

i'll try re-threading the hole as tom suggested.

thank you both for your advice.

[ja17]

Hello Doug,
On the 114's the seats fasten into "cage nuts" which are clipped into place. If the bolt accidentally gets started wrong the nut will break loose from it's cage and simply spin with the bolt making tightening or loosening impossible. Careful observation with a strong light will help. Notice that the front cage nuts are accessable from the opening in the backside of the little box channel. The rear cage nuts are cliped to bracket welded to the floor. The solution is to remove the bolt if possible and replace the cage nut. Often times the bolt cannot be removed since the nut is spinning with it. In this case try levering up on the seat. This pressure will  lock the nut temporarily in place long enough to unfasten the bolt. If this does not work use some needle nose vicegrips or some other tool to jamb the nut so the bolt can be removed. The cage nut and clip can be removed afterwards. It is a very inexpensive part, or just send me an SASE and I will give you a good used one.

Joe Alexander
Blacklick, Ohio