Im redoing my exhaust manifold gaskets. The front manifold has a large heat shield, that reading up about it tells me that its there in case of major engine failure to prevent oil from reaching the cat. Am i OK to remove it comoletley? Or should i be looking for a replacement. It was the reason my exhaust manifold was leaking. Its not in good shape. Cheers.
One more question, my stock manifolds had a wrap on them from the PO. Ive done some typical generic research (i couldnt find too much talk about manifold/header wrap in the fiero forums) and have read all the good and the bad. I do not have the stock heat shield on the front manifold. Im not sure that i want to re-wrap them with what ive read. Any thoughts on leaving the wrap off, being that i dont have the stock heat shield? Worried about all the heat coming off the front manifold and no factory heat shield being back there.
Exhaust wrap opinions are going to be all over the place. Many like and many do not. There are many valid points on all fronts. I wrapped mine and am not to worried about it. Just to keep it simple leave it off and see how you like it. The whole point for the wrap is to cool down the engine bay by transferring the heat further down in the pipes.
Depending on the money you want to spend you can alternatively get the manifolds ceramic coated. Theoretically, it was the same benefits of wrapping without the negatives.
