The hood doesn't have to be that extreme to extract the heat. You could do it with a 2.5 cowl and move the gauge inside the car. a new HD radiator & fan could help the cooling. If you want the heavily modified rating Wendy you'll need to dump some dollars on the skin of the car. Possibly the LX Zenon body kit, a new paint job, rear spoiler; customer interior work. (painting some piece to match the outside of the car) and yes cleaning up under the hood to include the use of chome parts and chrome covers. You need some bling to move up to the next level.

Right now your ride is a kick ass E-ticket ride and you need the hot street look now for that Heavily Modified clasification. Me, I'll take your stock look and 500+ horsepower under the hood any day.