the actual hood struts that are made to hold the hood up weren't made to fit on this custom hood. there are no drilled holes or spots for me to connect them to. so right now when i need to keep the hood up i just have to hold it. is there anyway that new hood brackets would make the hood sit lower and align better?
The reason they asked about the hood struts is that they were designed ot hold our heavy OEM hood up w/o a hood support, os if you replace the hood w/ a lighter one and use the OEM struts, the strut may push/buckle the hood when the strut is compressed (w/ the hood down), and they thought that might be causing the fit issue
As for sending it back- If you pay close to $500 for a part it better f-ing fit right the first time! Theyre telling you to send it back b/c it looks like there is a mfg defect with it. Its not an install issue (that we can tell from the pix) like it isnt lined up properly or on crooked, the hood is lifted what appears to be 1-2" in the middle, almost like you closed it on something! I would seriously consider contacting the company and letting them know the issue w/ the hood. Anyone thinking of buying this hood, then seeing these pics would prob think twice about it!
The exception to this is if you bought it used, it could be damage from the previous owner..