I've seen many folks running aftermarket mufflers, especially the header setups, without the heat shield. The purpose of the heat shield is to extend the life of the water pump/belts/bearings that would otherwise be exposed to pretty tremendous radiant heat from the muffler. The factory heat shield is asbestos and can take all the heat you can toss at it. What tears it up is abrasion and water. You can't buy them in the OEM form anymore because they ARE asbestos. They are fine unless it has started to shred - in that case you should carefully remove it avoiding breathing the dust, and replace it with one of the aftermarket solutions. All the vendors have alternatives. Dave Swingle --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Ed Kane <wingnut702001@...> wrote: > > Hello everyone, Recently i put a dynomax muffler on my car. My question is, just exactly how important is the heatshield that goes between the muffler and engine. The heatshield will fit, but if i use the factory brakets that hold it to the engine, its pushed against the muffler. So my next question is just how much heat do u think that shield can take. Since it would fit against the muffler i'm sure it gets hot. > To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/