is the stock exhaust heat shield necessary or can i get rid of it?

 

Scrap it.

 

ha thx waiting for permission... ha

 

I wouldn't completely get rid of it. Those are really good for.....ummm....hmmm.....yeah, screw it, they're good for nothing. I think Mazda was just trying to keep thier dumpster empty, so they threw that garbage on the cars.

 

i wouldnt nessesarilly get rid of the one by the fuel tank... if the rest are in good condition and you have the space i would personally hold onto them. sometimes people are looking for them to replace the ones on stock cars. just my $0.02

 

yea about that...... well u see there was a little pulling and tugging because mr bolt dident want to wake up from his 20+ year sleep sooo things got a lil tough but hes in a better place noww..

 

So they don't offer any adequete amount of shielding?

Hmm maybe I won't re install them then...

 

i was wondering about this last time i changed my clutch, i think i only have 2 screws holding the part right above the cat and it's annoying as **** because it will lean to one side every once in a while, i got tired of it doing that so i took a metal cutter and cut a huge chunk of it....might just get rid of it all lol. but i didn't know if it was safe back then. i know it will transfer more heat to the body, but i don't think it'll be THAT much.

 

i'd keep them. cabin temps are noticibly higher without the heat shields in place... found out the hard way...melted my lower shifter boots..

 

I would say that if you still have the cats, then keep the shields. Those babies can get hot! Otherwise, you can probably live without them...

 

I would agree with kentetsu. If you still have the cats, keep them. I don't have the cats and I removed all but the one by the gas tank. I haven't felt the floor getting hot at all.