[James L Miller]

The correct answer seems to be BOTH! I e-mailed a few folks I know that were around from the old days and have researched the cars. Here is a response from Jim Schild who wrote several books on the SS cars.

"There is no debate or should not be. The 1964 Hemi sedans were built exactly like a standard car on the line with the aluminum hood painted and installed with hinges in place. The hinges were removed and the pins and wing nuts installed at the final assembly facility. I am positive about the sequence because the original cars I have examined and original photos show that the body was not painted under the hinge and the hinge attachment area of the hood panel so the hinges were removed after the body was painted. Red primer or rust was visible under where the hinges would have been.
The white Dodge you see pictured in my books is in the delivery area at the Hamtramck plant being prepared for owner pickup at the Lynch Road U-Drive lot. All work has been done on the car at this time and it has left the assembly plant area. Pete Haldiman's book even has the name of the two guys working on the car. The original threaded hood pins may have been aluminum but they were flat on top.
I know of only one restored car with hinges in place and that is the white Dodge now owned by Todd Werner in Florida. The original owner (Barnes Drilling service) had the car being prepared at Landy's place in California and Dick's brother stepped on the original hood and bent it so they installed the hinges so the hood would not be removed. This particular car also has an incorrect battery mounting and a questionable right side upper control arm support. I am not sure about the authenticity of the control arm support but many restorers install the 1964 sedan batteries incorrectly because they found the Max Wedge brackets in place and assumed they were used. The brackets were there but they were not used on the Hemi sedans. They were used on the 70 1964 Hemi hardtops which had Max Wedge type battery mountings.
It may be interesting to note that both the 1964 and 1965 Hemi lightweight hoods came into the plant unpainted but with the scoop already installed. Sealer was installed around the perimeter of the scoop and the unit was painted as an assembly. All of the scoop fasteners and J-nuts should be painted body color."