Any real purpose for the hood rods? My truck is missing the rods yet I can't detect any reason for them. It opens and closes properly, no undue flexing, etc. and aligns perfectly with the fenders.

 

They can and do make small changes in the hood and are used in overall front sheetmetal alignment. THhe Service Manual discusses them very briefly. For example, the manual says that if the hood is high on one side, loosen the hood stay rods on the other side. I have found that most of the front sheetmetal adjustment is done by tweaking the fender stay rods. But the hood stay rods also help align things.I have also found that small changes (even only 1/2 a turn of the nuts) can make a discernible difference.

 

The front end of dad's 55 got a lot more ridged after we put the rods on. They aren't the prettiest things but they make a difference.

 

Heck chrome them all then ya got something to look at.