garrett376

I was under the car today to start my primary muffler project (again!) and was curious if there was any benefit to keeping these heat shields in place. The left side, where the cat bypass runs past, I can see how this might be beneficial. But on the right side, where there is no longer any exhaust muffler in place, so the shields aren't blocking any heat. I actually had the lateral panel removed, but installed it today - now I am wondering if I need it on there.

The only thing I can think of is they will help deflect debris that might catch the plug wires. My 65 had no shields, no nothing down there and had no troubles - but it didn't have plug wires dangling down there or big fat rear rubber, either.

Do you guys keep these heat shields in place?

jimq

There was a thread on the 993 forum a couple of weeks ago on a group buy for the big orange hose after onebroke and the heat tube fell down. Big bucks for the hose and metal part to fix. Shield may save you some money. Looks like the same part.

PC2

You can upgrade to Magnecor race wires if you loose those shields.

Tom W

Shields removed on my car. Without the cat and without heating/cooling they don't do anything but reduce air flow over the engine.

Red rooster

All the shields of 3 yrs ago. No problems.I think they were only there to form a sound deadening box for the motor to sit in ( and overheat ) anyway!!As you rightly say 3.2s back dont have this stuff , and I cant remember if 993 s have much down the sides of the motor.
Geoff

Wachuko

I only have the one next to the CAT to protect the cables from the heat... and on the other side so that it looks balanced, (since I don't have the secondary muffler...)

hjcarlin72

If you are worried about heat on the plug wires on the Cat side if you remove the heat shield, why don't you wrap the Cat with heat wrap for headers. This stuff is designed to keep heat in the exhaust and would prevent heating of the plug wires if the shield is removed on the Cat side. Jeg's, www.jegs.com, had several different types. One designed to wrap a Cat. I am thinking of doing this! Any comments.

JimC.

Cupcar

Mine have been gone for years.

I removed all the vertical panels that remained after removing the belly pan.

I do worry about the Cat side plug wires though. I think the best solution here would be to add a layor of header insulation onto the original Cat heat shield facing the wires. Then remove the other Cat heat shields, this would protect the wires and allow the Cat to cool down quicker when the car is parked. I think the time immediately after a run when the car is parked with no airflow around the wires is the highest risk period.

If you mostly track the car a Cat bypass runs MUCH cooler than a Cat.....

garrett376

Thanks for the input, guys. I have decided that the heat protection on the cat bypass side is worth it, since when these plug wires go bad, all hell breaks loose on these cars; and heat can only encourage further insulation breakdown. Additionally, I think the physical "trauma" protection afforded by the non-cat side (passenger side) panel is worth it, too. So, they will stay!

PS It is on the mostly track car. The daily driver has all panels including the under tray