bird catcher?

i have a 3 in. cowl and i an dropping a 454 into my 78 camaro and the cowl is too short by just a little bit. i really dont want to buy a new hood!should i cut a hole and run a bird catcher or something and if i did is there anyway to safely drive those in rain?

Don't cut up your hood scoop,make a Air pan out of sheet metal or Aluminum,if you have 2-3 inches clearance from top of carb to bottom of scoop you can run a 2" down flow air filter,put (FLAME-RETARDANT Foam) across front,both dides of air pan so when hood is closed you have a good seal.If your hood just has a hole cut out for Carb,use 4 pieces of foam make a square.A down flow air filter runs $93.00 and up but still cheaper than a new hood or new scoop.