Actually, Plan A worked out just fine. I went to Tacoma Screw Products and asked them for a 3/8" diameter shoulder bolt with a 2.5" shaft, and they had one. The head on it is round, and 1/4" thick, and machined for a 3/16" Allen wrench in the center of the bolt head, the shaft is 3/8" x 2.5" with a 5/16-18 threaded section 1/2" long on the end of the smooth part. It fits perfectly in the hood latch assembly. It shouldn't need much, in the way of spacers, but if it does, it will only be on the end with the threads, and I'll be using a 5/16-18 stainless nyloc nut on that end. So possibly one or two 5/16" washers should do the trick.
Friday afternoon of this weekend I sent all the pieces of the hood latch to a shop in Oregon to have them hard chromed. Tomorrow morning I'm taking the bolt over to a place here in town to see if they can coat it with Titanium Nitride. TiN is what is now being used to coat drill bits, and is unbelievably durable. All of this plating should be finished in the next week or two. Then I can get started on installing the seat track adapters for the bucket seats.
You're right about the design of the parts. Back in '64, most cars had a life span of 3 to 5 years before they got traded in, then maybe another few years as a second car or kid's car, then the scrap yard. Stay tuned for further developments. I'm thinking about writing up some of my automotive adventures with this car for the 12 Port News. LOL
