So now I have to find a 3/8" shoulder bolt with a 2 1/2" shoulder to replace the riveted shaft in my hood latch assembly. If that's not available (and I think it should be)
I don't believe I have ever seen a 3/8" flange bolt with a 2.5" shoulder:
You'll need a fender washer to fill that much space. Drilling and tapping the old rivet stud is a good idea. It could be done on a drill press with a press vise:
Great post about sort of an intractable issue. Unfortunately, there are a lot of things on old cars that were never intended to be serviced. These parts were designed to last the 'lifetime' of the vehicle. The engineers (from the bye gone past) just never expected guys in 2016 to still be driving/working-on cars that in their minds would have been crushed into scrap decades ago.
regards,
stock49
