A few years back, a friend showed me his '73 480 that was a victim of Hurricane Katrina. It was hanging in his shed next to an open window, so he wasn't doing it any favors. My wife said she wanted it and he handed it over...

So, I'm finally getting around to doing something about it, and have decided to attempt a "sympathetic restoration", meaning I'm cleaning up what I can and replacing what I can't (which, primarily, means all the electrics). I'm puzzling over one thing.

The truss rods are missing. I believe this model came with the "hairpin" truss rods, but these seem impossible to find. Can the later style rods be used in their place? Or, even, could one fabricate replacements using threaded rod and some aluminum stock for the end plates?

Thanks for any and all advice.

Here's a link to my photos so far (the nice looking 480 isn't it, unfortunately - they're from the web): https://photos.app.goo.gl/72thh9drj8u6jU39A