Hood retainer, cage, problem

[Superhart]

I have a 1930 model a coupe. there is a problem with the rear hood retainer nut cage that is underneath and out of reach. As you know, there are two nuts in a cage inside the hood that hold the front hood retainer bolts in place for some reason one of my notes is tapped 10– 24 and the other one is tapped 12–24. For some reason that bothers me I do not have access in order to replace the nuts with correct size which I believe should be 10–24 I have thought about trying to carefully drill out the 10–24 notch and retyping to 12–24 in order to make both notes the same size, I am afraid to do that not really knowing what potential problems I could create by trying to do so. Has anyone else had the problem and had to try and replace the nuts inside the cage or perhaps drilled out an existing nut and re-typed it in order to continue using it ? Has anyone ever replaced the retainer cage? By the way, I do not have a fuel tank inside the car like the original. I am really confused about how to go about correct in the situation so they both my rear hood retainer screws are the same size. Does anybody have any suggestions about either drilling out and re-tapping the smaller screw or possibly replacing the cage and nuts contained there in? Any comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. It would appear to me that without a fuel tank and place that I I would have to disassemble the entire dashboard in order to get to that area where the cage resides. Thank you to anyone who replies.

[Harpkatt]

I had similar problems with my roadsters dash rail. I just drilled it out and tapped. If you're afraid you could probably use jb weld and tap the larger hole back to the smaller size. I wouldn't say that is a quality repair ,but I'm sure it'd work.

[bobbader]

The original nuts were 12/24 square nuts. The cage allowed them to move slightly in all directions for flexibility in adjustment of the back of the hood to the cowl. The cage also alleviated the need to have two people needed each time you needed to remove the rear hood retainer.

While you no longer have the gas tank, you do have the top cowl panel. Unless it's been molded into the cowl panels, you should be able to remove this top panel to give you access to the caged nut assembly at the top of the firewall. These are available new, with the correct nuts. It's a tedious process to replace the unit, as the original is spot welded in place, but it would be done correctly. (New one can be installed with small flat head machine screws & nots or pop rivets.)

The easy way out may just be to drill out the smaller nut you have and tap it to 12/24. But, it begs the question as to why there is a 10/24 nut in there to begin with. Maybe it was clogged with rust and someone tapped it to 10/24 not knowing the correct size. I'd try tapping the smaller nut to 12/24 before doing any drilling. Use some oil in the opening and give it a shot. If the tap gets jammed in place as you try, you know you have to take a different approach.

Good luck.

[Superhart]

Thank you, both for very good points well taken. For one thing, I was wondering how difficult it would be to get out the cage itself since there is no fuel tank blocking the way. To do that message it would appear to me that I would have to completely disassemble, the dash panel and and remove the gauges to gain access. I am much too lazy to try that method. I have thought about trying to carefully drill out the smaller nut which is 10/24 and then tapping it to 12/24, but was afraid of the possibility of the tap getting jammed in place or the cage itself giving way and breaking. I guess one solution would be just to use a 10/24 screw on one side and a 12/24 screw on the other, or trying to turn down the head of a 12/24 screw to the same diameter as the head of a 10/24 screw since I do have a milling machine available to me. I was hoping that someone would have an idea how to gain access to the retainer assembly since the fuel tank is no longer in the way , if worse comes to worse, I will just use the two different size screws and call it a day . The only issue is that the head of the 12/24. Screw is just a tad too large to completely fit into the mounting bracket correctly. By the way, the only obstruction in the way is my Vintage air air conditioning unit. any further ideas or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks go out to those who contributed just for.

[Synchro909]

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I've never seen caged nuts in that location. Tell me more - not that I can do anything about it. The rear end of the middle hinge on my cars and every other car I have seen is held with about 3/16" nut and bolt.
After posting this, I went and checked my cars. There is no sign whatever that there was ever anything there to hold any nuts. Maybe this is another difference between Canadian and American cars?