well, after some hot weather, a track day and alot of dyno tuning, i can safely say that heat shields do serve a purpose.

at the track i could smell this burning plastic sort of smell but couldn't locate the source. it was strongest in the cabin. nothing seemed to come of it, so i ignored it. a couple of weeks later i had my hondata unit installed, the dyno tuning went on for a good hour or so, and the burning smell returned. we couldn't place it until we took the car off the dyno and i went to re-apply the handbrake. the ratchet thinggy seems to be not working properly, and the hand brake feels quite strange upon engagement. i haven't had time to get underneath and have a look, but i'm fairly confident that the extremely high temperatures are to blame.

not as much of a concern, but annoying nonetheless- the centre console heats up to the point that holding a mobile phone (that has been resting under the handbrake lever) after more than 10 minutes of hard driving is uncomfortable due to the heat. we're talking 60 degrees c-odd (140 f).

i'm not sure if the stock heat shields would fit with the 2.5" system... but if it does, i say leave it on. since i was stupid and ditched the stock heat shields, i'm going to have to pull the system off and put some fiberglass exhaust wrap around everything... hopefully that works out.

 

well damn

 

well i took the heat shield of my cat like over 1 year ago and i could say i have not had these problems, maybe its something else

 

Mine all came off 2 years ago and I haven't noticed any problems either, but I'm still on stock exhaust.

 

Why do people take them off in the first place?

Please don't say for weight savings

 

rattling. it was really annoying.

 

i took mine off for some reason ... and they stayed off because I forgot to put them back on

 

Mine was rattling...I removed the upper heat sheild, on top of the cat...basically cut it out....only to find out it wasnt the culprit...I had to also remove the heat sheilds on the cat.

Has anyone had problems with this?

Original poster: had you removed the upper heat sheild?

 

I took mine off to put in my short shifter about a year ago... nothing since

 

Apologies...I just replied to an old thread

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Arsenal &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why do people take them off in the first place?

Please don't say for weight savings </TD></TR></TABLE>

That is such a jackass remark

My short shifter and greddy exhaust were to close and they would rub. They would make a loud clanking noise when i would engage in first gear. I have noticed a differences in temperatures in the cabin. Not a great deal hotter, but in hot traffic my (greddy)shift **** gets really hot I have gotten used to it, but it was very uncomfortable at first.

 

Heat shields on the exhaust pipes and cat it-self are problematic since the bolts and fasteners rust out and the shield will vibrate against the exhaust so these are usually removed. The shields that mount to the floor pan don't seem to have any issues, little heat compared to those mounted to the pipes and noise usually won't eminate from these since they are mounted to the body. I would retain these to avoid the hot floor pan that Slimbo has... even if they did touch the 2.5" exhaust these shield are so thin that they are easily bent out of the way.

Slimbo... you can buy some aluminum tape (self adhesive) at home deport and start covering floor pan, expecially above the cat and resonator. Home depot may have better products, take a vist and see what they have.

 

I`m thinking of building anothe shield for the floor with copper...if I can find some at a decent price....its the best heat conductor and would make for an awsome shield.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jet Black &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I`m thinking of building anothe shield for the floor with copper...if I can find some at a decent price....its the best heat conductor and would make for an awsome shield.</TD></TR></TABLE>

wouldn't you want something that DOESN'T conduct heat?

And on a side note...perhaps it's not a lack of a heat shield that is causing this for you, maybe it is an exhaust leak? Moving the car along pretty fast should sweep most of the hot air out of there, but if you have an exhaust leak it could be venting exhaust gasses right up into the car.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jet Black &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">copper...its the best heat conductor...</TD></TR></TABLE>No, that would be silver

But those shields are for radiant heat. You want something with a low emissivity. Polished metals all have very low emissivity, but most don't stay shiny for long underneath a car. I think you'll have a hard time finding something better than stainless steel.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jet Black &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Mine was rattling...I removed the upper heat sheild, on top of the cat...basically cut it out....only to find out it wasnt the culprit...I had to also remove the heat sheilds on the cat.

Has anyone had problems with this?

Original poster: had you removed the upper heat sheild?</TD></TR></TABLE>

94-95GSRs, rattling comes from the A-pipe on the exhaust manifold. This is know defect for the 94-95. This happen to me also, everyone told me it was the heat shields. Took them all off and it still rattling until I replace the exhaust manifold with one of a 96gsr....problem FIXED.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PatrickGSR94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Mine all came off 2 years ago and I haven't noticed any problems either, but I'm still on stock exhaust.</TD></TR></TABLE>
me too, been about 8 or 9 months without it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JimBlake &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">No, that would be silver

But those shields are for radiant heat. You want something with a low emissivity. Polished metals all have very low emissivity, but most don't stay shiny for long underneath a car. I think you'll have a hard time finding something better than stainless steel.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I got owned I was thinking heatsink wise......**** your silver

Hey...I could place a mirror under there

Tin foil works pretty damn good at reflecting tho.

The problem cant be with my exhaust manifold...I dont have one...it was replaced with an aftermarket header by the previous owner.

So the consensus is that the body mounted heat shield is important?

 

IMHO... all the heatshields are important, to some extent.

I've got a header too, so there isn't any shield around the manifold. The shield around the cat itself has also 'disappeared'... So far no problems. But I make a point not to park on top of dry grass. And my normal drive to work doesn't include being stuck in traffic, either. If I move or something where I'll be sitting in traffic a lot, then I'd probably get a new shield for the cat.

 

Ive been runnin' with ZERO heatshields for like 6 mos... and have some aftermarket parts (header/cat/etc.). Even with the hot cali weather and alot of rough driving, the console only minimally gets warmer.

If your console is getting "really" hot, almost to where it seems like the dash plastic is getting pliable... then im "almost positive" that the rubber boot that separates your shift linkage from your cab (directly under your leather shift boot) has popped up. Ive had this happen on mine and my friends tegs... they pop up easily when overheated and allow hot air from under the car to circulate inside your dash cavity.

Check it out... let me know!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PatrickGSR94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Mine all came off 2 years ago and I haven't noticed any problems either, but I'm still on stock exhaust.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

u could have ran over something plastic which causes the plastic smell, i took my heatshield off before and accident;ly ran over a plastic garbage bag, that caused the plastic smell on my car...the plastic melts to the area that used to have the heat shield.

 

My Heat Shield ratted a lot, then when I got my cat back done they fixed it so it wouldn't rattle at my local exhaust shop. Worked out fine. I still have a rattle but it's so much more quiet now. I can only hear it in closed locations at mid range rpm's.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rega322 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That is such a jackass remark

My short shifter and greddy exhaust were to close and they would rub. They would make a loud clanking noise when i would engage in first gear. I have noticed a differences in temperatures in the cabin. Not a great deal hotter, but in hot traffic my (greddy)shift **** gets really hot I have gotten used to it, but it was very uncomfortable at first.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Why is it such a jackass remark, did you take yours off for weight-savings

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Arsenal &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why do people take them off in the first place?

Please don't say for weight savings </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

i have that problem and i live in NJ now. i took all my heat shields off cause they rattled.im moving back to florida sept 05 i wonder how is gonna be during daily driving ,since i notice the temperature in nj i know in fl is gonna be worse.