I am replacing a cowl hood with a standard. I have two available in my area. What are the key areas to look at to determine the quality of these hoods such as rust prone areas etc.?

Jacket,
I'm not sure where to find tell-tale rust except maybe along the edges where there are seams.
Another thing to look out for are the areas around the hinge mounting holes. Sometimes a hood will be bent and/or cracked along that mounting 'ridge' where the bolts go from years of use. The hood gets harder and harder to open and close due to dirty and worn out hinges and it can bend.

If you can't find a good one I have one I hauled from the desert. It's currently in Illinois.

68 SS Clone http://my.core.com/~ss502

Also look out for hood pins. Someone at one time hacked some in on my hood and did a very bad job. The repair that was done when they were removed wasn't all that great either. This could be a place where rust can start if they wern't put in right or repaired correctly.

i got a standard hood no rust one little ding i will trade ya for a cowl hood.... :D