Scubapro

Hi. Just bought a W reg 6th gen Civic. She goes like a dream, but I have some issues regarding loose heat shields. On my last car they were bolted on, but I've been told the Civic's are welded. Need to either remove the loose shields or have them welded. Anyone got an experience with this car regarding what is involved in sorting the rattle. It may be coming from more than 1 shield, but I'm pretty sure they are under the chassis. A friend who knows his stuff has warned me not to remove the shileds between the exhaust and the chassis or the heat will casue serious issues. Any ideas??????

Cheers

CivicAK

I would say rip it off, its only a heat shield, drill a whole and bolt it together, as far as I know they are all bolted together not welded. Do you know for sure which one is rattling?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i took mine off, the exhaust doesnt sit close enough to the body to cause damage from heat. its mostly for fire protection if you drive over grass with a hot car and it starts a fire lol. so if you dont plan to do that, just remove the shields.

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

They protect the cat from rust and salt and ****, for those of us who live in that kinda weather.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

the cat has its own full heat shield around it (two pieces) which is the same shape. that one i dont recommend removing cause it allows the cat to stay hot enough to work properly, and its slightly vented. the big upper shield above the cat thats bolted to the car can be removed no problem.

dnice78

i've had this problem before too. its proably the heat shield that wraps around the cat. what happened on mine was that the shield had rusted and actually broke off right next to the bolt, the easy fix for it is one of those metal hose clamps that you can tighten with a screw. get one that is large enough to go around the cat and shield, then tighten it up. one of these days i'm going to try and solder it together, but i'm not sure if its the right type of metal...are the heat shields aluminum?

TRIZ

iTrader: (14)

^ They dont feel like solid aluminum, they feel like pasticy metal to me... Not a fan. Whats this mystery material anyways?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

just take them off lol. i dont know what kind of metal it is, but if you bend a corner a few times, it just snaps. i felt above the exhaust pipe with the heatshield removed and could not feel any heat on the car body. so for most cases they are useless. the only two shields you need are the ones that are around the cat to keep it hot, and those are pretty much part of the assembly anyway. the loose upper shields can come off.

Max91

Hey gearbox, I know this is an old thread but I had a question about removing the heat shield to expose the header for looks.

Would it be ok to do this on my 02 ex? Or would it generate more heat under the hood and maybe other problems? Or just a bad idea.

Thanx

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

You can remove it, but its there to keep the rest of the engine a bit cooler.

It would be ok, but again its there for a reason, you probably wont notice any difference.
I doubt it would cause any problems.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

it could cause some performance loss not only from the hotter air in the bay, but also from the exhaust gases cooling down and losing speed in the header. may only be a few hp but i wouldnt do it. all you will have are nasty looking rusted headers underneath anyway. either keep it on, or get a DC header and have it jet coated.

Max91

Ok, I see what your talking about. What is "jet coating"?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

jet-hot.com is a heat insulating coating that looks almost as shiny as chrome and does not lose its luster from heat. its very good at keeping heat inside the pipes and out of the engine bay. i got mine done years ago and it still looks like new and vastly better than the junk coating the dc header comes with. the coating is expensive around $250 i believe, almost as much as the header, but well worth it.