The pilot reported that when the landing gear was extended, prior to landing at Maitland, the gear down light failed to illuminate. The main landing gears appeared to have extended, but the nose gear could not be checked. Remedial action was unsuccessful so the aircraft was landed in the 23 direction. During the landing roll the nose landing gear collapsed, damaging the propeller and engine cowling undersurfaces. It was later reported that an engineering examination found that the nose gear had failed to fully extend, due to the failure of the downlock hooks to travel to the locked position. This had resulted from the seizure of a pivot bolt due to corrosion. As the weight of the aircraft was applied to the nose gear the downlock hooks slipped, allowing the nose gear to collapse.