IMO unless you are going to "go all the way", then I would not open them up. Also, I opened mine completely without leaving the ribs and I can honestly say I have never found ANYTHING laying inside my RamAir pan. Also, just for your own info, I originally bought the fiberglass upper and lower pans ($200). The fit and look excellent, BUT, if you are a stickler for detail (like me), do yourself a favor and purchase the pans from Warpath as mentioned above ($600). You will not be sorry as the quality is dead nuts to the originals! I had the fiberglass ones for seven years, and not one person ever pointed them out as being for not being metal. However, everytime I popped the hood, those plastic pans laughed at me. No longer the case!