I took another look @ the pic's and realized I had things turned around. At first I thought the hood was wider than the cowl in Pic's 5 & 6, and now see it's narrower so that it appears it needs to spread a bit at the back not shrink so forget that "strap" comment.
So the new question becomes have you done as Achip suggested to see how it sits with no hinge or latch points? If so how about a second batch of pic's showing the difference if any?
Also can you post more pic's of what's going on at the front?
I'm wondering if you have the radiator and grill supports in proper aligment, i.e shims and spacers all present?
