Guess the Bolt!

[Gizmo3000]

Bought my car used last month, only 2,000 miles, everything immaculate.
But then last week I looked behind the front seat - and found this bolt!

Can't seem to find where it belongs!
or are Lotus's kinda like Ikea, where every so often you get an extra part?

anyone have a clue where this bolt might belong?

[RoadDad]

It attaches the flux capacitor. If you really found that bolt behind the front seat, your flux capacitor is long gone.

[fishguy]

looks like one that is for the seat mount to the floor.

[Randy Chase]

Originally Posted by fishguyAZ

looks like one that is for the seat mount to the floor.

Yep

Make sure each seat has 4 bolts. If they do, I bet they let one slip and grabbed another one.

[ace10]

Originally Posted by fishguyAZ

looks like one that is for the seat mount to the floor.

probably from the passenger side. kinda short tho...

[RacyTracy]

It looks broken off.

[buzzy]

Originally Posted by RacyTracy

It looks broken off.

Yes it does. It looks the same size as the seat rail bolt, but about half the length.

[edaddy]

I've had the seats out a couple of times and this bolt looks smaller.

[RoadDad]

Just got in from looking at a passenger side seat bolt (as that's what I really thought it was but wanted to make sure before scaring poor Gizmo) and look at all the responses .

I agree that this one is a seat bolt but broken as mine is longer than a penny. My drivers side are hex head bolts and the passenger are Allens. If all four are in each seat, you can rest assured that some mad Englishman wracked his knuckles (or maybe the previous owner) just before leaving that broken bolt behind your seat.

[RoadDad]

Originally Posted by RacyTracy

It looks broken off.

In the second picture in particular...

[Gizmo3000]

Will my car still function without the flux-capacitor??
..I was a bit worried that it might be the bolt holding the whole car together! ehhe

Originally Posted by edaddy

I've had the seats out a couple of times and this bolt looks smaller.

Yup, I forgot to mention that as well -it's indeed a little smaller. (and I would have spotted that first) - attached is the photo to show the difference.
-speaking of which, the seat fits fine (Touring package seats,. '05), but whasup with the additional drilled hole on the side, there's another one to to side of the other bolt as well. it's as if they drilled the holes in the wrong spot? it's not like this on the passenger side (which has regular bolts).


I have another suspicion as to what this bolt goes to, as it looks a lot like the one kinda sunken into the car towards the mounting bracket to the hardtop (softtop too?). I've yet to take the hard top off the car. but it appears both bolts are in there. tho here's a pisser,. the little velvet pad that velcro's over the hard top bracket - simply fell off on both sides of the car. someone did a ****ty job gluing the parts together. no biggee tho, I've just used some epoxy to glue them back.

at least there's no bumpers to worry about falling off!

[xtn]

I cannot identify the mystery bolt, btu I can tell you why there is an extra hole next to the seat bolt. Both seats are offset from center slightly. So is the center console. In countries where the car is sold as a right-hand-drive car, the seats are reversed and shifted to the other set of holes.

xtn

[Chris Mackey]

That's HILARIOUS. After I picked up my new '06, I discovered a hex socket below the driver's seat making a sh!tload of noise.

I think we have a match!

[ace10]

Originally Posted by Gizmo3000

...tho here's a pisser,. the little velvet pad that velcro's over the hard top bracket - simply fell off on both sides of the car. someone did a ****ty job gluing the parts together. no biggee tho, I've just used some epoxy to glue them back...

[edaddy]

The bolts on my hardtop are torx, not socket head. Maybe it isn't from the car but just came off of something while riding in it.

[RoadDad]

I still think it looks just like my silver passenger front seat rail bolt, only broken off.

I've found peanuts, bits of paper, and nuts (metal kind) in various places around my car. Maybe broken bolt was grabbed by mad Englishman and when he realized it he just tossed into the car before grabbing another one to set the rails. They don't seem to pick up anything that is dropped into the vehicle during the manufacturing process.

Let the bloody Americans fill their landfills with the broken parts.

[ace10]

i had an extra seat mount shim under my passenger side seat. if they've got a bolt or two already fastened there's probably zero chance of the good folks doing the assembly are going to go fishing for a waywatrd part that falls under the seat.

now having said that, if this were my vehicle, i'd want to know for certain that there weren't any broken bolts occupying valuable thread space in any of the threaded receivers in the floor.

[choi0706]

looks to me like the plastic valve cover bolt.. but that's a torx..

[Gizmo3000]

Thanks for all the suggestions/guesses guys.
Perhaps one day when I take it in for service I'll show it to them or something.
or compare it to the bolt that's up near the hardtop, when I do get around to taking it off.
while it looks broken off in the photo, I don't quite think so.
and both seats seem to have all their bolts and are solid.

Just one of those things that makes go "hmmm, is this important? or belong somewhere?"
- or perhaps it's just a present from one of the builders in England to remind me that my car was hand built.

-at least it wasn't an emtpy beer can!

[smicker]

That's not a bolt, it's a penny.