Well, It has been said that the reason they discontinued the gas flap hood was because of the degree of cracking from the cutting process. Many times the hood would crack when the cuts were made, this made for many wasted hoods, which is very expensive. Once again, I believe the lines were removed also as a cost cutting measure due to defects. I am not quite as sure about this second one, but I do know that less processes in production = less cost of goods sold. So, one could draw that conclusion. John Weaver ETDOC RED DMC #10527