<VV> stock air cleaners

[Paul]

Okay, tell me how this works: I spent a lot of money on the performance carburetor modifications done by our friend Mr. Young to improve airflow, I spent more money on the custom three angle grind on the valve seats to improve airflow, I installed, at great expense, the "slant" exhaust tubes and custom equal length headers to improve airflow. Now, I'm looking at the intake system and I find two small "snorkel" intakes on the stock air cleaner. The cross-section of these intakes appears to be less than half of the total area of even the stock carburetors. It seems to me that this would be kind of like a marathon runner trying to breathe only through his nose. What was the General thinking when he came up with such an apparently restrictive air intake?. Would I be better off replacing the stock (but attractive looking) air cleaner? How about just removing the "snorkels" and perhaps putting some more holes around the perimeter of the stock filter? Is there a recommendation for a low restrictive air cleaner on a 140? Thanks for your help, I am always amazed at the depth of knowledge on this site.
Paul Michalczyk
65 Corsa Convertible, just completing a 10 year restoration project (that's two years working on it, eight years thinking about it and saving up the money)