The inner brace and hinge is the next step and I have been killing some brain cells trying to solve it. To start with, I would by no stretch of the imagination call myself a body man. In fact, this is my first major fabrication on body panels. I figured if some other knucklehead could do it then so could I. It just may take me a little longer. The big pros say tig is the way to go, so that is what I used. I weld a couple of inches and then while it is still hot flatten the area back out with the hammer and dolly. I am actually pretty happy with the welds. The roof is a lot better, but I learned a lot on the hood, which I finished welded first. I do have a couple of low spots in the nose of the hood, but am pretty confident I will be able to handle them when I do the finish hammer and dolly work. I am also going to get one of those shrinking disc and give it a try.
I think on your brace, you will be able to get away with just shortening the hinge brace, if you are just taking a couple of inches out. I have attach a couple of pictures I saved while I was researching mine.
Hope this helps, Jeff