Hood Latch Differences

My dad and I are in the process of repaint my XJ. The hood had bad hail damage and my dad located one in a junk yard. After he had already spent some time working on the "new" hood.. we realized the "new" hood latched in the center rather than on the side. I looked at the hood on a 2000 XJ and it latched on the sides like mine.. so I'm thinking maybe this is a pre- '87 hood? I know to fit the 4.0 AMC had to notch the firewall.. and I'm thinking maybe they had to move the radioator forward, which did'nt leave enough room for the hook to go down through the radiator support, so they relocated the latches to the sides... am I right?

Probably an 84-86 hood. :dunno:

Id look for another one, 87 and up.

I have swapped a latch from an 87 to a 98, so they are probably the same 87-01.

well.. because we are suckers for doing things the hard way.. we are cutting the reinforcement at the front of the hood away from the skin.. and patching it into the "new" hood.

87+ hoods have the dual side latches, 86- have the center latch.

When cash flow is tough, fabrication skills are real nice.

Now you are aware of some of the differences in Cherokees. Remember, make, year, model when getting parts really saves on the sweat equity.

My '94 has a center latch.....??

Is that where the hood is secured tightly? Pop the hood, then go to one corner and press down hard. If it latches, you do not have a center latch.

Pics?