I preferred to attach the hoop for the hood hinge to the hood without using rivets so I found some 3M High Strength Body Filler to bond the hoop to the back of the hood. 
I had some helpful advice to trim some of the extra metal off the hoop. I first place the hood on the body and traced the outline of the engine compartment opening from underneath. I then cut the excess hoop metal so it fit inside the marks I made. This was a great piece of advice. Had I not done that you would have seen a Cobra hood for sale on Ebay.
Next I had to drill holes through the metal on the hood hoop for the hood handles. It would have been nice to have a 1 inch drill. Instead I had to use a 1/2 inch drill and a dremel to enlarge the hole. It took a little longer but it worked and the handles when on easily. 
I have added a new dremel to my tool collection. It has turned out to be a valuable tool when you need to shave or shape some of these metal parts.
I am not finished with my 3M High Strength Body filler work but I was anxious to put together the hinge assembly to see how it is going to fit. Here the hinge assembly is in place but not bolted down yet. 
I test fit the hood on the body and it would not sit flat…. ohhhh noooo! But it turned out that the HV coil was mounted in a position the hit the hood hoop. Whew, that was easy to fix by moving the HV coil.
Hours spent on the build: 223 hours