You don't say what you have. If a 47-55.1 that's wide at the back and narrow in the front it will have a tendency to be flexible when open due to the narrow front hinge mount. 55.2 and up don't have this trait. The 57 Ford was the first I remember and it made working on rear distributer engines easier. The front hinged hoods opened almost verticle, unlike rear hinged ones, so even working on front engine accessories wasn't bad. Alot of work for just looks but they were nice to work on. The absolute worse car to work on was the Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird. It was impossible to lean over the long, long nose and the rear hinged hoods didn't open very far. We had two customers with them and ended up drilling an 1/8" hole through the hinge strap and inner hood panel(so we could use an 1/8" pin to exactly realign them) and just pulled the hood off to work on them. If you like the rear opening and have the tools and ability---go for it.


Evan