Doubt this will help at all but I'll throw it out there. In 1988 and 89 buick made a foward tilt hood on the Lesabre It had to be pulled up and forward before being tilted in order to clear the grill. Maybe a look at one of those would give you an idea. And maybe it's the dumbest thing I've ever posted.
I also went to the salvage yards and looked at the Buick tilt setup. Along with the unique tilt system, it also has a bolt in track that keeps the rear of the hood aligned and closed. We pulled one off to possibly install it (modified) on a friend's '56 Chevy, but he still hasn't started putting it in. I think the Buick setup is too lightweight to handle a full steel frontend, but if it was reinforced, and modified it might work.
I brought up the buick hood mechanisim only as an idea or pattern. I'm sure it is far too light for a front clip
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