Good try on the theary but not correct. spacing the hood in the back is for cooling. i have the hood on my corolla spaced. lots of road racers have there hoods spaced. Bubbleheadm3 has the hood on his road race fox body mustang spaced. just for extra air flow for cooling. i dont know about the mk3 2j swap that lofer is talking about but the spacing on that car should be for the same reason. the 2j is not any bigger then a 1j or 7m so spacing to fit should not be needed.