Some updates:

Last week I tried to put my hinges on (no brace) and it wouldn't fit. Freds mentioned he had to space his out. Last night, I attempted the same thing...and they fit. The only difference I can think of is I bolted it to the lid first while the other screws were loose, then tightened those up. Voila, it works! I don't drink either, so I can't say I was drunk the first time I tried fitting it.

Moving on, I put the brace back on. In the closed position I had about 3/8" clearance. I could just stick my thumb between the brace and the hinge. In the open position it did hit the OEM stamped metal piece. I just hacked out a notch with a sawzall to prove the concept. You can cut it and round the edges to look nice. This allows the lid to open up all the way.

That said...
1: I still plan to make the billet hinges for the 4 or 5 people that already bought one of these. Of course my record keeping is terrible so I'll have to search through my paypal statements to see who that was.

2: I will now offer these again for those who want them as well with the understanding that you have to notch out the hinge to work and that it's a tight fit and, if you don't line up your brace or body well, you might need to add washers underneath the stamped metal part.

Check out my build thread for the latest hinge design I came up with.