As you can see in the photo, the recessed area has a dent; not readily visible is the crack in the middle of the dent. The studs are splayed out and the threads are buggered up. I would rather change this to a nut plate arrangement anyway. I can see 6 or 7 spot welds around the perimeter, but the forward most edge appears to be seam welded. Any suggestions on how I should approach repairing this area?

You really don’t want to use those studs. The vendors sell a kit that attaches to the flat part and has a receiver for the latch that wraps around it to limit the deck lid from moving sideways and messing up the paint on the deck lid corners.

Mike

http://www.rc-tech.net/pantera...latch/deck_latch.htm

http://www.rc-tech.net/pantera1/index.htm