Originally Posted by 16vjohn

This is a vane airflow meter. It's used to calculate the flow rate of air, basically it's an early MAF. A lot of early gasser EFI cars used these. I'm guessing in this application it's used to determine flow rate of the EGR to make sure the EDS is seeing properly flow. Modding in the permanently open position is completely harmless, though you should probably leave it unplugged.

To be clear, it would never close to restrict airflow other than the natural restriction it makes by being there. Regardless, it's not required. It'd be nice if someone machined a pipe to get rid of the sensor completely. I like the stock airbox, but this sensor is crap.