I have to say, I feel bad for you. I know your mom meant well, but now you're stuck with a bigger problem than you had earlier.

Sounds like a safety issue to me.

My son drove an '83 244 where the hood didn't latch properly. This was during the week after he rear-ended somebody in said 244, which is why it didn't latch.

Hood latch let go on I-95. Hood swung up, hit forward edge of roof; broke the windshield. Of course he couldn't see anything with the hood up in front of his face so that was pretty scary at maybe 60-70 + mph.

Anyway, I can't judge your hood hinge from here - but any metal that's been bent isn't as strong as it was before. With a bad latch, bent hood and bent hinge, I'd sideline the car till you get it put back together.

A friend of mine swapped a hood once. He told me that pulling the replacement and installing it are best done with two people. Otherwise it's real easy to set it down such that you scratch something or bend the protruding corners at the rear of the hood. With two people you can lift it off the donor car and then set it right down onto the waiting hinges on your car.

I'm emailing you the tel. # for that yard I know in RI.
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Sven: '89 245 NA, 951 ECU, open-front airbox, E-fan, 205/65-15's, IPD sways, E-Codes, amber front corner reflectors. Wifemobile '89 245 NA stock. 90 244 NA spare, runs.