I had to grind off the mounting stud I then did the same with the underside and was just able to slip out the old square nut after bending the tab’s side lip. All done very carefully as I didn’t want to break the spot welds holding the tab to the frame.
The rear locating pin rod was seized. I needed to remove the panel again and of course another mounting bracket came loose!
I cleaned out the pin mounting hole and shaved a bit of the nylon locating sleeve behind the pin until the rod slipped easily in the hole.
Whatever was holding the rear locating pin arm to the top latch was long gone. I decided to drill the rod end and use a washer and cotter pin to keep it all in place.
with the latch mechanism lubed with white grease and working fine I reinstalled the cover with an extra upholstery screw where the mounting bracket had broken loose.
Next I’ll be getting the seal in place.