I've noticed a rattle under the hood of the car for a couple of weeks now. I finally popped the hood to take a look and found this:

It looks like a heat shield of some sorts, but my question is, can I remove it or should I find a way to fashion it back up? I have no idea what it is covering/protecting so feel free to educate me!

Thanks.

 

It is there to protect the intake from heat release by the header. Just use some JB weld or head gasket sealent to fix whatever that broke/crack.