Suggestions putting hood back on my 64 Valiant?

I took the hood off my 64 Valiant to enlarge the hole under the scoop so I could fit a larger air cleaner. Never took the hood off an early A body before and was surprised by the tension in the torsion bars. (Especially when the hood hinge flew like a ninja star when I undid the bolt!).

So now I have to get the hood back on. Any hints or suggestions to make this any easier? I don't suppose I could bolt the hinges to the hood then thread them through the torsion bars?

Any help is welcome. Thank you.

Before I took it off it had a large gap seen in these pictures. How do I correct this?