[tronman]

The thottle control is a rod running through the tunnel in the center of the passenger compartment with the shift linkage...on the lower drivers side of the engine you should be able to see where the thottle connects to the engine through a cable to a bell crank and a rod that runs up to the back of the fan shroud. I can sympathize about the hood struts...mine are brand new and if the temp is below 65 or so they won't hold the hood...if I lift the hood up and down a few times quickly though they will usually do ok.