Long winded hood hinge updat, I'll break it up into a few posts. The reproduction hinges ended up not working out once the hood was bolted on. Long list of problems with them-
1: The joints were too tight. I had to use a 24" adjustable wrench slipped over the flange that bolts to the hood to get the hinges to open and close, even with the spring off.
2: The individual arms are thinner and flexed easily which let the hood shift from side to side.
3: Each hinge angled outward front to rear by 5-7 degrees, so with the hood bolted on the already stiff joints were then in a bind from the joints on both sides not hinging parallel to each other. The thin and flexy arms somewhat minimized this problem
This also made the flanges that bolt to the hood misaligned with the holes in the hood.
4: The passenger side hinge wouldn't fully drop as far as it should, so the back edge of the hood was kicked up above the cowl.
5: The joints were eating themselves. I cycled the hinges a few hundred times with the 24" wrench hoping they would "wear in" and loosen up, periodically adding oil to the joints to flush out the metal shavings that were building up. They eventually loosened up some but not enough.
6: The supplied springs were barely capable of holding the hood open, and not able to hold the hood all the way open. The hood has a section cut out at the very front for rust repair, no emblem, and the paint is stripped so it's lighter than a finished/painted hood. The friction in the joints were the main factor in the hood barely staying up. A full weight hood wouldn't have a chance at staying open.
7: The stops that set how far the hood opens were not shaped correctly.
