I have wondered about air from the bottom being much hotter than from on top or the snorkel but I can't have everything

If you don't have a cold air system on your hood all air getting into the carb has to go through the radiator, correct
The cold air bottoms on some of the OEM air grabber hoods had a front baffle on them to avoid tearing up the front of the air cleaner elements when the flaps where open for winter use from air blowing through the radiators

Here's a YouTube video of 440 dyno tests, with/without unsilenced air cleaner.

Without: 380 hp at 5500 rpm.

With: 375 hp at 5500 rpm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLdSsFfnDEg

Go to 26:58 - 30:33, about 3.5 minutes.

(Later in the video they get 400 hp by switching to Edelbrock aluminum intake manifold from original cast iron.)

Cool thanks.