Vixen bonnet conundrums

[missingbadly999]

I had a serious rattle at the front on bumps and decided it was the bushes. Bushes work became calipers/master cylinder/servo/shoes etc etc and I have emerged blinking in the light of day to find guess what - there's a rattle at the front on bumps. At least the brakes and suspension are good now! After a weekend at Goodwood Revival (where there was a nice orange 1600 S2) I have investigated further.......
Its the nearside bonnet stay where the bolt into the front spar has stripped and isnt holding the corner down. It was clearly only my fast driving that held the bonnet down.
Question: Is the front spar threaded enough to put a longer bolt in to catch the good thread or am I into drilling it out and tapping another thread and getting a bigger bolt welded onto the hinge bracket?
A

[missingbadly999]

[quote=RCK974X]on my S3, the threaded rods are part of the hinge setup, and threads were pretty bad on the rods too.

I used a 10mm (I think it was a 10, slightly smaller than original UNF) die to recut the threads on the rods, and then welded a new 10mm nut to each side on the bonnet bracket. This works nicely

Thanks that's pretty much where I have got to with it so it's good to know it works. I have run a die down the thread to clean it up and I'm going to re tap the nut but I think it's nadgered so bonnet off and weld on a new bolt it is then. The bonnet is removable via the bolts through the brackets. In doing this one of the bonnet catches fell off into the engine bay buts it's too dark to find out what and why so that's added in to tomorrow's fun.

[missingbadly999]

Recut the thread and used a locknut on it and its very tight so I wont go further. Its vital to make sure there's a lock nut (mine were missing) to put the threaded rod under tension and prevent the waggling knackering the threads. That's all I know. About anything, I think.