Noob question - can't delete vetices

So I’m working on my very first 3D model (ever) in Blender and I seem to have done something that is apparently irreversible, while basically just trying to figure the program out.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j12/Andy_Segars/ac6b1c1e-e441-4ae4-8cc2-32b914b7838d_zpsbxxhihna.png
I just cannot figure out how to delete this hood. (I removed the surrounding vertices for a better look.) The plan was to rip the hood from the rest of of the front end to make it a seperate object, but it didn’t end up working out that way. I pretty much just started messing with stuff with out paying attention exactly what was happening.

Here is a photo of just the mesh. As you can see, there all these “burt orange” colored lines that I’ve personally never encountered before.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j12/Andy_Segars/0a02cbbc-4472-40c1-b831-d575fccd4bf7_zpszypv9wwx.png

Any help on resolving this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

That hood piece is a separate object from the one you are currently editing. You need to go to object mode if you want to delete that other object.

Thank ya kindly. That was totally the problem.