How to remove seat belt track

[happiinesshunter]

I have successfully removed all the seats in my '97 thomas vista 3600 and am moving on to the walls and ceiling. The seat belt tracks running down each side at the top of the walls/base of ceiling are proving almost impossible to remove. They have been attached with a number of 6 sided screws and the strongest drill I can find will not remove some of them. I have burned through a number of drill bits and have not been able to remove half. Does any one have a better way to get this stubborn screws to budge? Many Thanks

[tobeamiss]

You could use an angle grinder. It got to the point where I wouldn't even make the feeble attempt at removing each screw. Each one got zipped of real quick instead of trying to unscrew them and then having to resort to the grinder.
It saved me precious time.
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[happiinesshunter]

Trying again! We are still running into trouble. Unfortunately we do not have an angle grinder. We attempted to cut with a circular saw but it appears it just does not work. We can not get these out no matter what drill we use. These screws are six sided and a varied selection of sizes (we've had to use 3 different sized drill bits). We have gotten about half out and now they wont budge! Please, any help would be amazing!

[happiinesshunter]

How exactly did you remove them with an angle grinder? The screws are flush to the metal and are tucked behind two metal lips making them almost impossible to reach.

[Sasquatters]

Why are you trying to drill them out? Get the appropriate screw head and take them out. To remove them with an angle grinder you have to cut down the middle the the track. Once the trace is separated into two pieces, you can cut the bolt heads off.

[happiinesshunter]

We are using the correct drill bit. (Sorry if my lingo is incorrect. I say "drill" whenever I am using a drill) But we are using the correct drill bit for each of the screws. They will not move though. Some did with excessive force but about half won't move.

[Sasquatters]

Have you tried an impact screw gun?


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[Robin97396]

You may find it easier to work from beneath the bus. Those screws in the L-track don't seem to be designed to simply unscrew because they appear to have a nut on the underside of the floor.

I'm confused. I bought this special needs bus because the entire floor was covered with L-track. Yes the L-track is a pain when trying to clean the floor. The aluminum strip is like stepping on ice during the winter with bare feet.
On the other hand when I have a large water spill the L-track channels the water toward either the front or back doors. I'm trying to keep the L-track so I can tie things down inside the bus. I'm considering insulating the floor from underneath, which would become fact if I go further north.

[Sasquatters]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

You may find it easier to work from beneath the bus. Those screws in the L-track don't seem to be designed to simply unscrew because they appear to have a nut on the underside of the floor.

I'm confused. I bought this special needs bus because the entire floor was covered with L-track. Yes the L-track is a pain when trying to clean the floor. The aluminum strip is like stepping on ice during the winter with bare feet.
On the other hand when I have a large water spill the L-track channels the water toward either the front or back doors. I'm trying to keep the L-track so I can tie things down inside the bus. I'm considering insulating the floor from underneath, which would become fact if I go further north.

Insulating underneath will be harder because all of the components under the bus. Just reinstall the tracks onto floor studs.


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[happiinesshunter]

I am actually referring to the tracks that are on the walls/ceiling that my seat belts hooked into so I wouldn't be able to reach them from under the bus. Also it appears the 8 screws that are left were stripped when they were put in that is why none of the 6 sided bits will fit. We tried yesterday to access the screws from behind with a metal cutting blade but the strip is held to closely to the wall to access it. The one screw we were able to access only wore the blade down (yes it is a metal cutting blade) but the screw still didnt budge!

[Sasquatters]

Please post a photo.


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[Robin97396]

Same here. I'm not following. Seat belt track? We probably aren't talking about the same thing.

[Sasquatters]

Our bus had the seatbelt tracks above the windows but they were incredibly easy to remove.


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[happiinesshunter]

Yes they are the same as the ones above the windows. My friend took a look and told me the screws were stripped when they were put in and that is why we have had so much trouble. All but 8 have now been removed but the 8 that are in will not budge. [IMG][/IMG]

[Sasquatters]

Ok, these are the same as ours. Are they mounted right to the metal or is there rubber behind them?

[happiinesshunter]

It appears there is no rubber and they are mounted straight to the metal.

[Sasquatters]

Are you going to put in a different ciling, or are you not insulating and keeping it up?


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[happiinesshunter]

We are removing the ceiling and insulating so we do need to get them off some how. Thanks for the help!!

[Sasquatters]

It took us over a month to figure out how to remove ours. We tried using a screw gun and stripped them all. Then we tried to drill them out, and it took about 10 minutes per screw. Our last resort which was actually our first idea, was to use an angle grinder and cut them out. We tried 30 types of blades and the Dewalt XP blades lasted the longest. We went through 2 wheels per track.

Cut right down the middle of the whole track. Right over the bolt heads. Once it's cut, use a crow bar and hammer to separate the two sides. Watch the windows! Once the two halves are separated you can cut the bolts off flush.

Don't force the blade. Let the wheel do the cutting. They don't last at all if you force them. Wear safety glasses.


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[family wagon]

If you have welding capability available you could cut away enough of the track to make access for a nut and the corresponding socket. Then weld the center of the nut to the head of the stripped-out screw, and finally use the socket to turn the outside of the nut and unscrew the screw.

In all honesty though, if it's acceptable to grind the screw flush to the wall and leave the stuck piece in place, that may be faster than the weld-a-nut method.