Exhaust Manifold heat shields

[drumset5994]

Here's my question...

 

Every bolt on my heat shield is rotted through...its basically fused rust-wise to the manifold, and whenever i hit specific RPM vibration points (1100, 2500) it vibrates HORRIBLY. I wanted to tighten them up, but every bolt is rusted so bad, it doesnt even have a pattern, and around each bolt, the shield is eaten in rust about an 1/8 of an inch larger than it should be.

 

Can i just rip these off? Or will this cause a problem?

[TEE]

Take em' off....shouldn't be a prob as long as no wires or hoses are close.

[drumset5994]

I called up my dad and asked him too, as i remember a story not too long ago.

 

It was around 85, and my mom's "newer" Cutlass Supreme was due for a tuneup. Well the heatshields kept cutting his hands as he spun the wrench on the sparkplug...so with great polish rage, he ripped them off with a combination of a sledge hammer and his fist.

 

Never had a problem after that :-D HAHAHA

[diverlloyd]

I had a '65 Corvair Monza that had heat shields and air dams all over the d**n place.

When I took the engine out to replace some broken push rods, I left all that stuff off. The engine ran better and cooler that way.