this may sound silly but i was just wondering, i wanted to clean up my cluttered engine bay and i was wondering if i really needed the fan shroud and the metal peice that mounts on top of the radiator... if i remove these will it affect anything?

 

They help direct air through the radiator. I have driven around for about a week with out the plate over the radiator and didnt notice a difference (it wasnt very hot out though), but I had cooling problems when I didnt have the fan shroud.

I would just paint the plate, it looks better than if you just have a big hole there IMO.

 

Actually if you clean them well, they look pretty nice.
As stated earlier- they help to direct the airflow towards the engine (especially the shroud during idle running).

 

I don't have my shroud on right now and I don't find much of a change, a little warmer maybe but over all no difference. But it does make it dangerous to just work in the engine bay, as I have hit my fingers on the running fan.

 

Yeah, just leave that sucker in there, it serves a practical purpose, whereas removing it serves no purpose.