I found this foot-long strip of foam that looks like it had some sticky tape on one side sitting in front of my a/c condenser on the rad cradle. Does this belong here?

 

IDK what it would be for, other than maybe a vibration deadener put in by a P.O.?. Looks like the stuff you can get @ the hardware store or auto parts store--some kind of weather strip you can put where you want.
I don't have A/C so I can only guess..?...
OK I owe ya change on ...

 

It's filler... Originally it went between the radiator or A/C condenser and the radiator support. From the factory these cars are designed to take air from under the car and force it up through the condenser and radiator. The foam was inserted to fill the gaps on the sides.

 

Oh ok. Do I really need it? And I'm planning on removing the ac condenser and compressor anyway.

 

Need? Probably not, but it wouldn't hurt anything to replace it. Leaving it out might cause the engine to run marginally hotter.

 

OK, well I was thinking that removing the condenser would even out the difference with that foam strip removed. I'll leave it out for now, and I'll see how hot the engine's gonna be running in the springtime when I'll take the car out.

 

X2 I took out my AC stuff because I thought it was dead weight but boy was I wrong. Car just was not the same after gutting the ac stuff. But thats just me .

 

Anything you can do to keep air directed through the radiator is going to help keep the running temps down. Chances are most cars have long since been missing those foam rubber strips.

 

Yeah I don't doubt it, it was lying flat on the rad cradle not doing anything and I've been driving the car like that.

So you got some noticeable gains? I gotta find an ac delete pulley.