This is hopefully a very simple question, but I'm having trouble figuring out how to (correctly) secure the spare tire in the trunk. Please help me eliminate the noise of my spare tire sliding around in the back every time I go over a bump.

I have the mounting bolt and cup, which generally look like this, but are quite rusty.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Honda-Civic-...M/223401118038

The trunk area looks like this. The little raised bar has 3 holes. The middle one, which is what I would expect to use, has no threads at all. The other two have threads, but I can't get the mounting bolt to thread into them (maybe because of rust).

https://i.imgur.com/w99hPTq.jpg

It seems so simple but nothing fits together. Is there a missing part that enables me to use the middle hole?

 

Ha! I thought that picture looked familiar, I took that back in 2014 as part of the water leak thread. Weird how my brain picked that out.

With regard to your question, I recall it being one of the threaded holes- both should be the same size but I think only one will work with the way the tire fits. Hit it with some lube if you're getting resistance. If your threads are particularly rusty and you have a tap and die set, it might be worth running a tap of the correct size through the two threaded holes to get rid of any rust that could be tripping you up. Most kits will come with a little gauge to determine the thread pitch. A cheap-o Harbor Freight kit will work fine here since you're just chasing threads rather than making new ones. Here's the cheap-o one: https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-t...set-62832.html

 

The hole toward front of the car is to be used for compact spare, other threaded hole is for the flat standard tire.
Thread size is M8X1.25 or simply M8

 

Thanks for the confirmation of how it's supposed to work. My mounting bolt and cup are soaking in vinegar as we speak.

 

It works now!

24-hour soak in vinegar plus a thorough scrubbing got rid of a lot of the rust. At that point I was able to thread the bolt in but with difficulty - had to use pliers to do so. Then I put some anti-seize compound on the bolt threads and let it sit for a week. Tried it again just now, and it turns pretty easily just by hand. Finally, no more spare tire noise.