Went out the other day to diagnose a loud metal on metal noise under the hood and I noticed that my exhaust manifold heat shield rotted out by the bottom bolt. So, the bolt wasnt holding it on and it actually started to crack at the top and the vibration started to rub a hole in my exhaust manifold (caught it early enough no damage done). Just a thought for those of you who live in a cold climate with lots of salt on the roads to go out and check it. If I had left it on it would have broken off at the top bolts from vibration and possibly ended up smashing into the radiator fans which would have been a costly repair. Heres a pic!:

Just had the same issue. It was rattling and I thought it was my exhaust.... nope was the heat shield.... took it off.... no noise...

Well, make sure you replace it or wrap the exhaust manifold. Don't leave it bare.

What do I wrap is with?!?!? Special tape?

There are a bunch of different wraps you can use. Search the forum many have done it. Or you can just order a new heat shield from south bay honda for 43 dollars + shipping. I got it locally here at the dealership in Canada for 30 dollars. I replaced it I didn't just remove it.

im done with heatshields lol. the only one i kept was the hugging piece around the cat to insulate it and even that one is starting to rust up badly and needs a new one. you dont need any of those stupid metal pieces. just jet coat the header and it will be better than heatshield.

since you got a new one, might as well polish it up before installing and make it look shinny old pic when i had stock header yuck lol

With your DC header up for sale, won't you be going back to a stock header soon

Wheres the pic of the new one?

My shield had the same problem a while back. The guys at the shop fixed it for free along with the other exhaust work I needed. It sucked having to hear that rattle every time I got on the throttle. Lol.

no i already bought a new header, got it jet coated with their best stuff, and its installed lol. i can snap a pic once it stops raining. i didnt have the week of downtime to recoat the old one.

Another DC one?

I got bumps from the small "Hail" (close to snow) stuff falling from the sky today... and i am in summer tires since 2 weeks ago!!! Weather... sucks...
And it changed to rain, so car was under a heavy cover of ... ice! then soft snow/hail under it... Grrrr.

I still have those spare exhaust manis, Tom.. Just sayin.. haha

yes dc again. i wouldnt go any bigger on the piping. its already larger than stock. and the welds are so much better on the dc.

My header is okay for now... its my catalytic converter that I'm honestly worried about. My weld is broken in front of the cat and the shop is giving me the runaround. They say they can fix it but it seems to be taking forever to get my car in. I might just take it elsewhere. Every time I call they say their welder isnt in yet. This place has a great reputation so I really want to take it there.

Here is tonights project. I really don't want this thing to rust out again so I've decided to ceramic coat it with manifold coating... Fireproof!!!:

lol nice. couple pics of my new one. this is after a few days of driving so hopefully it doesnt fade too badly

Nice Steve. Definitely looks better but I don't wanna spend the cash. How much was the header? I like how it bolts on instead of the nut-stud type which is a royal pain in the *** when it comes time to remove it. But I guess you can do that with an OEM one too.

I spent a good half hour scuffing it up with some fine grit automotive sandpaper. Now I have the third coat drying, I gotta say I really like the flat black. I might paint a bunch more stuff under the hood with it:

That looks great!

Honda should have made them that way to begin with.

If you polished your valve cover to match the intake, header and battery tie down then your engine bay would look amazing.

Thanks ! I must have left a small speck of water near the top and the paint wont stick to that spot now (Grr) Oh well, it doesnt have to look perfect ... as long as it's protected

SOOO Appareantly I'm SUPER camera happy tonight.. and bored as hell... so here are a few more of one side finished :





LOL I need to get a life... seriously

painting looks good!

Now go on a major painting spree and paint everything under the hood black

I have so much rotting going on under there I'm 1. Embarassed to take a picture of this thing installed. and 2. Considering painting everything LOL

This paint is so forgiving... it's just about impossible to screw it up unless you spray on the same spot for like 10 seconds lol

yes start painting rusty parts (use rust dissolver first lol)

What do we have here fresh out of the oven!! They recommend baking this baby at 600 degrees but I decided to cut it off at 450... It started smoking pretty good at one point and I got worried haha but oh well... Finished! Gonna let it sit for 6 hours and put it back on the car... Hopefully it won't rust out again. My whole house smells like baking steel and paint.

^^ Are you gonna use that pan for more cookies?

I bet your wife is thrilled