Hoping to get some guidance here as my first try did not go well. The bar is installed correctly (right side bend points to the front of the car so that tension moves against the underside of the hood). Added the plastic holders, secured the left side of the bar with an "S" hook after rotating it counter clockwise, and installed the hood.
The problem was as we lowered the hood it seemed as if too much tension was on the left side where the bar winds and unwinds in the holder - I say this because the bar appeared to bend a bit in the middle (sagging down towards the floor) and promptly snapped out of the holder and smacked the ballast resistor. It just didn't look right - I should have taken some picture to help.
We concluded that the bar might be binding a bit as we observed it at the point where it enters the plastic holder on the left side, rather than rotating just enough to "move" tension and allow for a smooth closing of the hood. Does this sound like a problem you've experienced and can you suggest the solution? The holder in the engine bay is secured as far towards the rear of the car as possible to maximize the room for the bar to move and sit in the groove.
I read in one forum post that someone reamed out the pass through holes of the plastic holders, not clear if that was a solution to the same problem.