I had a couple of projects today.  First, a salvage parts guy sold me a hood release rod for a GTO, he told me it was compatible when I questioned him.  It isn't.  He had just assumed I was making it into a GTO clone.  The big chrome grill on the LeMans sticks out further, so... yup.  I had to make my own.  Here's a pic of the GTO pull on the left, my creation in the center, and the prior owner's clothes hanger on the right.  Quarter inch steel rod bent with my patented hood pull rod bender (pipe wrench).  Hey, if I can do this with my limited skills and tools, anybody can.

I put a coat of sandable primer on the upper grill.  I'm not posting a pic of that.  It just needed another coat.  Then I started on today's real project.  You can see in this picture that the passenger side of my car is faster than the driver's side.  Well, at least it gets there first.

The prior owner's accident pushed the bumper up and kinked the fender which broke the upper grill I've been repairing, and pushed the fender back.  So, today I loosened all the fender bolts, pulled the fender up and out slightly with some shims, then aligned the hood a little and now it looks like this.

 

 

The hood still needs straightened.  GM was notorious for putting short hood braces on the hood hinges.  After a dozen or so closings, the hood bends at the end of the hinge.  Not just the cars.  I had a '70 GMC pickup with the same problem.  When I get a welder I'm going to put some angle iron bracing in the hood.