I have never been pleased with the hood alignment on my 48 3100. I have read prior replies on how the whole front end needs to be loosened and fitted to get the hood to fit. Today I simply took the hinges off on the hood fit perfectly! The springs have to much tension and were pushing the hood up and out. The hinges were adjusted as far down as they could go so that wasn't an option. I hate to leave them off and use the old stick to hold the hood up. I am thinking if I could modify the hinges by lengthening the button slot on the bracket to let me drop the hinges another 1/4" it might work and I could reinstall them. ??