what do you think i have stock headers is there anyreasion i need the protector

 

Reasons not to take it off

1. Hotter air flows faster from your exhaust manifold (heat shield keeps heat in)

2. You don't want more heat in your engine bay

 

thanks

 

Plus that rusty manifold looks ugly. I painted my heat shield w/ high temp black paint a few weeks ago and it looks MUCH nicer than before.

 

all good reasons but I wonder why usdm aftermarket headers have no provisions for heat shields.

 

USDM? I never saw a JDM aftermarket header with a heatshield either.

 

neither have I but I know there are provisions to make the JDM ITR heatshield fit over aftermarket JDM headers.

 

maybe because of the extra welding of connection flanges and other unnecessary work involved in doing so? *shrug*

 

possibly....but if it really did make such a difference I think they would do it. all motor DC2...who believes that heat shields don't make that big of a difference.

 

why take off the heat shield anyway? if you want the "header" look... buy one.

 

haha..true that. no need to expose the rusty old stocker.

 

yea i took it off and cleaned it with steel wool and metal polish and it looks great now

 

They do it for "show". That's why the aftermarket headers are stainless, ceramic, etc.

 

remove it and paint it with high temp flat black like patrick did. i know a lot of people tha have done this and it looks much better than the dingy OEM metal. I have never seen one done glossy black, but i'm assuming it would show dirt/dust easier.
-erik

 

Another option if you want the "bling blang" would be to sand off all the old paint from the heat shield (older DC2's, later ones were unpainted) and polish it up real nice. I did that on my old car's manifold heat shield.

Also, some people might want to retain a heat shield over an aftermarket header to give it more of a stock look (I guess for visual inspections from Tony Law ).

 

One of the reasons that heat shields don't come on headers I think is that cast iron (stock manifold) might retain heat a lot more than aluminum or stainless steel. I could be wrong though.