any reason not to cut it?

hey guys
as some of you may know, I have a real spiffy cold air system on the duster (pics to follow)

now, I found a flaw in my setup, where I can't just pop the wignut off to inspect the airfilter and carb

so, the housing is 14 inches across
there is a dip at 10.5 inches
and the filter is 12.5

is there any reason I could t cut the center out, along the 12 inch line, and put a 14 inch lid back on?

that would in essence make it like the regular design, no?