I was thinking about the same sort of thing recently, albeit more from a ram air point of view. I'd like to have my air cleaner connected to my hood and the scoop above direct air directly to the air cleaner. I figured if a hole was cut right through center of the support web 'X', a ring of sheet metal at least as thick as the support webs would have to be bolted back into place to tie all the webs back together. It would be ring shaped so the air could still flow through the scoop, down through the hood, to the air cleaner. I had an idea too for a plenum that would either be connected to the air cleaner base and mate up to this ring for an airtight seal, or the plenum attached to the ring, which would then seal down to the air cleaner base.
If you were looking to make your cowl induction hood functional only from a point of view or venting underhood air, then just cut some holes in the outerskin of the hood without cutting the webs.
1
