Believe me, I know what a pain removing either shroud is, but the best solution is to get someone who is a really good TIG welder to run a bead on both sides of the metal, so you can grind down the top side so it will not show when finished. Although it is a tough step to take, I would suggest finding the end of the crack and using a small drill bit, stop drill the end of the crack to keep it from spreading further (hopefully). It might be possible with some synthetic re-enforcment (i.e. fiberglass and some good quality resin on the under side to stabilize the crack after stop drilling, to the point where some polyester resin on top could be made to look OK. The latter is not a good solution, but perhaps the only way to avoid removing the shroud if you are not so inclined. I had cracks around the the top corner of my rear shroud and am very happy with the welded fix I described. I'm a fair welder and had access to TIG, but was not comfortable welding on such an expensive and multi-compound curved piece, so I had a friend who is a pro do it. I would be loathe to drill any holes other than one to stop drill it. I wouldn't want to rivet any kind of patch on the inside. Too many chances for further cracks.