Hey folks, sorry for the delay. I honestly wasn't expecting the hoods to start arriving until this week. I've had some scheduling conflicts due to my work schedule being changed, and I was out of town this weekend.

Swazo's directions are correct. Basically to ensure fitment, you need to measure the distance from the center of the rear bolt hole on the hood to the front bolt hole on the hood, then take the same measurement on the hinge. Mark the "new" center of the hole on the hinge and drill an oval shaped hole slightly larger than the mounting bolt. It's best to make it about 1/16" in diameter smaller than the head of the bolt, and to make sure that it's oval shaped so you can adjust and move it slightly.

Fitment will be tight because of the thickness of the hood, this is both a good and bad thing. Adjusting it slightly will get it to fit properly, and it should overlap the plastic windshield wiper cover thing slightly on the corners.

Speed Demons can post more detailed info on fitment. I want to get some pictures (more detailed) of the mounting holes he used, but my schedule conflicts vastly with his at the moment.

On clearcoat:

According to our MFG, they use a UV resistant resin, so the clearcoat is really only necessary to protect against acid rain and other environmental contaminants. They should not fade from the sunlight itself.

2001 ATX V6 Dark Shadow Grey Merc Cougar(Sport Pkg, ABS, traction control and sunroof )