Hello all,

My girlfriend and I just bought a new 2013 fit and are loving it! I began installing the center console armrest the other day and everything went well until I dropped one of the e-brake bracket bolts down in the carpet. I didn't have a magnet at the time so I just installed it with one bolt. It seemed to be plenty sturdy. Today I went and bought a telescoping magnet to get the bolt. I got it but when I went to screw them in again it seems that both the bolt holes are now stripped! The bolts only go in halfway and will not tighten. I thought maybe it was the bolts so I went to Ace and got two more, same problem, now I'm getting metal shavings on the bolts when they come out.

On top of this, I had to unscrew the e-brake cable nut to get the bolt holes to line up and one of these pieces fell into the carpet and I can't figure out where. I have been trying all day to get it out, I can't even feel where it is.

My question is, if you were in this disaster, what would you do? Would it be best to take it to the dealer and have them figure it out? Perhaps they can drill out new holes for the bolts. I'm sure that will be expensive but I don't want to do any more damage. Would they even have that little part for the e-brake?

Thanks for any advice!

 

Time for a tap and die! You need to re-thread the holes because you cross threaded the threads. I think (not 100% but its a M8 x 1.25 pitch)

 

You do need the M8X 1.25 TAP to re-thread the screwed up holes. You do NOT need a die if you are using new bolts. You will be better off by not using the original bolts that were probably damaged when they were screwed into the bolt holes off-center.