Suggestions for renewing hood nuts?

[jimbojames]

Several of the captive nuts in my hood are fouled up one way or another... rusted, stripped, broken bolts in them, etc. Does anyone have suggestions for replacing them? Perhaps a different fastener solution altogether? My first thought was to cut out a rectangle and fabricate a new plate. If someone has done something similar I'd love to hear what worked / didn't work.

 

Thanks!

[02Les]

Remove broken bolt(s) and run a tap down all the threads for a start. Then see what you're up against, if anything.

[jimbojames]

The tap is a good idea, but some spin freely unfortunately.

[Simeon]

It would seem a bit weird for captive nuts but how about some helicoils? Probably less hassle than cutting open the panel to get at the nuts and the rewelding shut. 

[dlacey]

I would drill out the remains and tap oversize...

[VWJake]

I’m not sure that you get much choice but to cut it open and repair the damage.

[VWJake]

I’m surprised that some spin... I would have expected it to be a plate with three holes in it to maintain the relationship between them.

[jimbojames]

Update: 

• Re-tapped four of them at original size to clear out rust and fouled threads
• Inserted a small shim made from scrap sheet metal into one to keep it from spinning
• Had to cut one of them out and will replace with new nut

It seems like the metal "cage" that hold the nuts can simply bend out of shape if too much force is applied to it. If you look at the photo you can kind of see that one of the walls of the cage has bent so it's not at 90 degrees anymore. 

 

Thanks for the suggestions.