I have a race weight lift off VFN that I put 3 aluminum tubes in as pictured above . I have fixed the small paint cracks twice in 35 years. The first time was soon after I got the hood and ran it down the quarter mile without the front bracing, as you stated, the scoop got very big. Once you put in the braces,the front of the scoop won't flex but the rest of the fiberglass will. If you want a fiberglass hood and drive the car you will get cracks , the same as corvettes and after market hoods are not even close in quality as the corvette.