62 Ammeter Capacitor?
 

So I just finished up pulling my instrument pod to get the gages worked on (Speedo stopped working). Anyway, when I was removing the gages, I was a bit surprised to find a giant capacitor attached to the ammeter.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/103234...n/photostream/
Needless to say, that as I was removing the ammeter/oil pressure gages from the pod, it broke into several pieces.

Is this required? What does it do? Can it be replaced with a more modern component (not planning on getting this car judged)?

Any help would be appreciated.

Suppresses AM radio static. It is not required.

OK, good to know. I was not looking forward to spending another $80 or so to replace that thing.
Thanks.