is it bad in any way to remove the honeycomb sceen from the airflow sensor?

 

Well, the purpose of the screen is to smooth out the airflow so that the MAF has a more average reading. If the airflow is biased to oneside or the other or is twisting through the sensor, it could throw off the reading.

With that said, it has been proven on about all 3800 v6 boards (or rather car boards that use the 3800) that there are no real consequences in removing it, but no benifit either. On person even went so far as to do 3 track runs with it and then 3 without it and they were all about equal in terms of speed/time, but the air temp was lower with the same track temp for the 3 runs without the screen so it should have been aliittle faster if it actually gained anything. Many people on the 3800 boards have also stated an erratic idle after removing the screen.

*EDIT* - also, it really doesn't restrict the flow as much as you would think it does. It is meant to be an air straightener and it is VERY thin metal.