wow. I think you should come over and look at it, south florida is a short ride and the weather is beautiful today.
Seriously, you have really helped. This site is incredible, with people like you always solving my problems.
When I get to the vehicle (not home now), I'm going to toy with those parts (which I now know by name). I have a grinder, maybe it's close enough that I can get it to work. If you don't mind, I would like to post a couple of pics, see what you think of the wear on the latch, etc. But it may be a couple of days, I'm pretty busy on the weekends.
Worst case, I spend 50.00 to fix the issue, which, I guess is not too bad considering how much I've already dumped into the truck.