Front bumper instalation

I am currently finishing up the fabrication of a front bumper for my XJ. The mounting of the bumper to the unibody will be similar to that shown in the following link.

http://jcroffroad.com/install_guides/XJFrontBumper.pdf

When I took the old bumper and mounting bracket off I snaped a 2 of the bolts off.


For the 2 bolts I snaped: should I drill and tap the bolt out so I can use the existing bolt that's welded to the inside of the unibody (this would require that I buy a tap - I'm a poor college kid)
OR try to punch the old nut out and use a new bolt and nut.
OR drill a new hole and use a new bolt / nut

Also my I planned on having the mounting plates welded to the bumper, Therefore I will be blocking the access to the inside of the unibody durring instal and will need a way to hold the nuts in place within the unibody. I was thinking of using some JB Weld to stick them in place. I dont care if they break once I begin to torque them down, just need to hold em in place till the threads are engaged. (plan to weld a 3" piece of scrap metal to the nut to serve as anti-rotation) Keep in mind that its pretty rusty and dirty in there and dont have a good way to clean it out. Any other ideas?? Or should I bolt the bumper to the mounting plates so I dont block my access while installing the plates? Now that I think of it, that would relieve stresses that would result from having variation in the braket spacing if it were welded directly to the bumper. (taken up by slop in the oversized holes)

Let me know what you think.... thanks in advance:rof:

Are you talking about the 3 bolts on each side of the bumper, that holds the bumper on or the three bolts on the driver side that holds the steering box on?

If the bumper bolts, they are just held on with J clips, Get new ones and new bolts and you're good. If its 2 of the three steering box bolts, you will have to remove the steering box, remove the broken shanks and replace with new bolts.

I'm talking about the three bolts that the stock bumper use. The front 2 use the j clips, but the rear 1 has the nut welded to the inside of the unibody. I broke both of these bolts, one on each side.

Air hammered the old nut off & the jbweld held the new one in place.

Thanks for your input - Steve