If the problem with the hood catches is the amount of pressure required on the lever to release them, then a downward pressure on the hood frame makes a huge difference.
If you do need to adjust the catches, the pins in the middle are often bent - making it necessary to adjust in complete turns rather than in fractions of a turn.
Having had difficulty with the latching of my hood catches, I found that the female on one side was loose as the bolt had fallen out. All the others needed tightening too. Remove spare wheel, and you can put your hand up to feel if they are tight or not.
