Replacing Seat Nut Inserts
Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2025 5:24 pm
For quite a while now I've had one of the inserts for my seat bolt spinning in the rear sub frame. This is actually a pretty easy fix, however there is very little information out there on it so I decided to do a quick write up on it. In particular because most of the information I came across just automatically recommend people take this in to a shop.
First step is removing the upper half of the rear body work.

You will have access to the bottom of the insert on both sides.

As for removing it, you have a few options. In perfect world you would drill mostly through it, but without harming any of the subframe. If it still has some grip sometimes you can use some superglue to get it to attach to help drill it. Remember though you CAN NOT enlarge this hole. However it's highly likely that won't work at all, and you will be stuck carefully grinding it. I used a dremel and carefully ground through the head untill only a thin part of it was left. You don't need to remove all of it. See below:

Then using a punch in the center, as we don't care about the threads of this insert give it a good smack. Remember the subframe isn't steel, if it's not moving, stop. Remove more material. Don't go swinging at it with a sledge.

First step is removing the upper half of the rear body work.

You will have access to the bottom of the insert on both sides.

As for removing it, you have a few options. In perfect world you would drill mostly through it, but without harming any of the subframe. If it still has some grip sometimes you can use some superglue to get it to attach to help drill it. Remember though you CAN NOT enlarge this hole. However it's highly likely that won't work at all, and you will be stuck carefully grinding it. I used a dremel and carefully ground through the head untill only a thin part of it was left. You don't need to remove all of it. See below:

Then using a punch in the center, as we don't care about the threads of this insert give it a good smack. Remember the subframe isn't steel, if it's not moving, stop. Remove more material. Don't go swinging at it with a sledge.
