Rear swing arm mounting plate, Rusted and broke 1/2 the bolts Options

[tracks914]

The 3 hole mounting plate on my project car (passenger side) is rusted pretty bad so I figured they have to come off for my resto so off they come. They seemed pretty rusted and tight so I soaked them from the top for about 2 weeks with penetrating oil.
Last night I went to take them off but I knew I was in trouble when they were spongy. WTF, grabbed the impact and got 3 bolts out OK and 3 broke off! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)
Now this is going to be hard to get the broken bolts out. I might have to resort to drilling and re-tapping the holes unless some has a better idea?????Anyone ever have these seized in before??(a stupid question but....)
BTW I now need a passenger side mounting braket (plate) and shim!!
Tx

[URY914]

I'm with Chris on using a bolt and a nut. I don't like it because it can move around in the hole. I feel you need to attach the nut or the bolt to the car. You could weld the bolt head to the car like I said above or run the bolt from the bottom and weld the nut to the car. A "floating" bolt holding a suspension member isn't a good thing IMHO.

[mihai914]

I'm with Chris on using a bolt and a nut. I don't like it because it can move around in the hole. I feel you need to attach the nut or the bolt to the car. You could weld the bolt head to the car like I said above or run the bolt from the bottom and weld the nut to the car. A "floating" bolt holding a suspension member isn't a good thing IMHO.

Honestly I don't understand where the issue is, if you drill the hole to match tightly the diameter of the bolt, where is the problem. The bolt I put in isn't threaded all the way, it has threads only on the last third of it's lenght. It's just like many suspension bolts on many cars. Of course if you put a fully threaded bolt where you're supposed to have partially threaded one, then you'll work the hole loose.

If you weld a new bolt for example, chances are good that it can brake also and then you have to work with the same type of problem again.

Anyway the subject is open to debate.

I think the rusting issue comes from the fact that the plastic plug they put on top of the tube can't seal well, and by memory, the factory fixed the issue on later cars (maybe 75-76) by sealing the tubes with steel caps.

I still think that if you have all three broken on one side, it's easier to just weld a good piece from a donor car than spending hours trying to drill straight or to replace each individual tube.