Yes, it's best to vent the hood real estate John. To be honest, I tried two different sets of sets of hood vents, and while they helped somewhat, they were not the ideal solution. The Reflexxion cowl hood I found was the solution and now all is fine. But there's not much chance of finding one of those anymore. So either have a functional steel cowl hood fabbed up (best), or raise the back of the hood up using shims like THESE. Cheap and easy.