Rusty,

Pretty soon it is going to look like the old planes that had no cowling, just an engine hanging on the front of the firewall :>)

Believe you will always come out with less drag if you can get the air to the radiator by opening the rear area. It is my unproven contention that the inlet area was already oversized but too much back pressure on the cooler required more exposure air. You are basically flying with a large flat plate area when you unnecessarily open the front too large. Air cooled airplanes are flying with 540's and two 4 inch diameter inlet holes. We are supposed to be more efficient with liquid cooling than air. Do you think the rotary requires more heat rejection via cooling than a 540?
Bernie, time will tell if my holes are too little.