Simply put, the square threaded 'nut' that the bolt screws into - to keep the rear seat cushion bottoms in place - has fallen out. Previously, it was probably welded in place but for now, I'm stuck with an unsecure seat cushion. I've tried reaching in and holding the nut in place with my hand, but it just spins. And, there's no room to get vice grips to hold it in place while I screw it in. Any ideas?

 

I'm sorta stuck i the same situation. When i tried reinstalling the seats, I ended up scrossthreading the bolt, and the nut broke off, so now the nut is jammed on the bolt. Any ideas should help both of us!

 

Those things are a pain, aren't they? Both of mine did what both of you are experiencing a long time ago... First it was the driver's side that jammed and then the nut came out, and then the other side. Get a (I believe) 9/16" wrench in there and feel with your fingers to get it over one end of the nut and hold it in place as you're doing what you have to do with the bolt.

Another reason why I'm ditching the back seat altogether .

 

Mine broke off as well... I just didn't bolt the rear seat down. Most people don't really notice, and I rarely have people in my rear seat's anyways.

Eventually I will get around to fixing it. I will most likely just weld a different nut on.

 

Fold the seat back down, and leave the passengers at home. That much @ss slows the car down too much!

 

ok im a little confused here, you are talking about the rear seat bottoms? on both my cars, the 86 and the 92, there is no captured nut, its a large screw in the front that is just threaded into the sheetmetal hump. It has screw threads, not machine threads.

????

 

On the backside, there is a "nut" welded in there that the screws 'screws' into.

 

the thicker metal nut is swedged into place.
To fix it properly, you need to take interior apart a bit and just have it tackwelded back in place.

 

orly? never noticed that.

 

I forgot to mention that in order to get enough room to get the wrench in the space where the nut is and to have enough leverage for fingers and such, you're really going to have to yank on the back of the lower seat until you bend the front rod that slips over the bolt (no sheet metal there in the cushion, just a long bent metal rod that forms a loop that the bolt passes through to hold the bottom down), and you're going to have to bend it back when you're done.

I hope I can find those "nuts" now that the rear seat is out... I plan on using those things to hold the box in the back seat...

 

I created a solution that appears (unknown for how long) will work.

First, I liberally sprayed the bolt and nut threads with WD40 and worked the bolt in a few times to get it smooth and slippery.

Next, I reached in with a small piece of sandpaper and scuffed where the nut used to be. I then scuffed up the flat part of the nut.

Afterward, I used a superglue made for metal and reached in and pressed the parts together with my fingers as hard as I could for as long as I could.

The trickiest part was getting a finger in there afterward to brace as much of the nut as I could while screwing the bolt in. It worked though, as the bolt is now all the way in and the nut is still in place.