Louvered air intakes on cowling: Important?

[16sail]

1992 J100STLEND

My old engine cowling is pretty beat up and I've founded a replacement that might work. The only difference seems to be that my old engine has louvered air intakes on the each side towards the aft end-- are these important for performance or mostly for looks?

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: Louvered air intakes on cowling: Important?

They are functional. I think they did away with the lower cowl air vent this year. All models this year had hood vents. I don't see a lower cowl air vent on the parts diagram and you could seriously starve the engine for air if you put a non-vented hood on the engine. If your replacement hood is not vented, I would not use it until you confirm that the lower cowling is vented. If there is a vent just under the lower carb, you can change to a non-vented hood.