Hi George, While I can't speak directly to your question, I can tell you that dealing with this was about the very first thing I did when I bought my 3A 4 years ago. It seemed clear to me that this was a poor design that, if not mitigated, would potentially cause me problems down the road. So, realizing that the twisting was stressful to the hood, and, wanting to have an easier way to open the hood without the stresses, and wanting to slightly reinforce the hood, I decided to add a handle to the underside of the hood which spans the center seam. This is a 7 or 8 inch steel handle from the hardware store. After unhooking the hood hold-down clamps, I just raise the hood from the front while catching the handle in the center and gently lowering the hood against the windshield frame. I bolted it up about 12 inches from the hoods piano hinge. This seems to be about the right height for me (I'm 6ft. tall). It is high enough that I can grab it easily when I open the hood, but not so high that I have to let go of it as the hood nears the windshield. And it clears the air cleaner duct, etc. on the underside. Yes, you have to drill two holes for the bolts in the hood, which I realize will not work for many with all original CJ's.
Another "improvement" I made is to run a light bead of clear caulk (I used "Big Stretch", stays pliable) down the length of this seam. I could see I was going to get a lot of sand stuck in that seam if I didn't do something. Works great, and you can't even see it.
