[Vic1947]

Tri-five owners on their forum swear that the hood brace from the factory serves as a baffle to help direct air thru the radiator on the highway as well as keeping the hot underhood air from recirculating over the core support and thru the front of the radiator when stopped.

The trick, CNC'd brace in mine totally defeats that purpose, so I'm going to add some block off plates made of aluminum sheet to the backside of the brace. The only problem I have is that the ends of the brace have a gap where they meet the core support. Not sure whether it's worth it to try to close those up. It's never going to seal 100% anyway.