I actually have ground the webbing flush in that area on a couple of intakes and then drilled the intake. I usually drill from the back side because my intakes are removed.
Here is a pic of my thermostat. I do pull my inboard starboard header to change the filter. The extra 15 mins of inconvenience is worth cleaner rigging.

Rookie, what are the max temps your seeing with 165* Thermostats? The majority of what im seeing is 200*. My bearing clearances are tight & I have really good oil pumps so I expect even if its running up there in temp to burn off any condensation, I should be safe. That must be -10 hose?
Do you have any pics of your Dart intakes when you drilled them?

No pics of the Dart intakes. I'll look at my Stealths and see if they have the webbing removed.
Here is a pic of dash at cruise. I don't see over 180°F after the cooler.

I've done it on my gen 6's and on world and dart blocks.these were all moderate hp motors 6-700hp.all the water comes from offshore pick ups,no drive water supplies.

if you want to put fittings in,,just grind a flat spot and drill and tap.losing rib won't effect anything.

Here is a picture of how I did it. I used a Brodix HV2000 intake which had a pad for drilling and tapping. I use an IR temp gun to check temps front and back and they are within a couple of degrees. This is a crossover system with a thermostat and temps are super consistent from right to left and front to back.

Sutphen, That was a concern I had. I like the intakes with prevision already there. Look good, preferred angle of the fittings & more meat to work with. But, well, I already have these. lol

Rookie, I appreciate all the visuals, very helpful. Thats awesome temp control & low cost to.

ThisIsLivin, Nice job, looks good! Is that -8 hose & fittings there? Im under the impression -4 is optimum but your temp consistencies are real good. Love the black headers by the way.

ThisIsLivin, by the way, what size are those FPS tees. 1/2" npt or 3/4"?