I removed all the exhaust heat shield under my 85 after removing rusted out stock exhaust, heat shield came off in pieces(pretty rusted)and broke 3-4 bolts doing so. I'm upgrading w/a RB exhaust and was wondering if I need the heat shield back under the car or will it now be ok w/the RB exhaust?
Thanks

 

No, you don't need the heat shields. As far as I am concerned, they are completely useless unless your routing an exhaust system within about 1.5" of a gas tank or fuel lines. They do pretty much nothing but rattle when a bolt or strap comes off.

 

You just made my day

 

Gotta think you'll be pumping a lotta heat up into the passenger compartment!! Have you ever stood beside your rear pass wheel after shutting off the car?? *whew*!! I would consider some heat reflecting padding for the interior pass side of the rear and seat area. These guys sell this stuff:
http://www.secondskinaudio.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

I ditched mine when I did my RB installation. No issues...

 

For sustained high power driving, the pipes will get hot and stay hot and radiate a lot of heat in places where you do not want heat (floor board, tranny, fuel tank, intake manifold, etc.)

If you don't operate the car at high power levels for more than a few seconds, then you may be able to get by without heat shields. Without heat shields, my road racer passenger side floor got so hot that you could spit on it and it would boil off in a couple of seconds. With heat shields, it stays much more comfortable inside the car.

 

I see.
I have the heatshield over the axle and beside the gas tank...the problem is the one I took off to access the tranny was rusted to crap and broke 3-4 bolts getting it off and then the bolt heads that broke off would get totally stuck in my socket so I'd have to squirm back out from under the car to get it out, ect(it was a bitch getting off, I threw it across the yards like an idiot when it finally came off, )
I might cut that big piece that goes under the pass floor/next to the tranny just to protect that area.

 

I removed all of it except for the upper part that is by the axel and the gas tank. I don't do any track driving, but I know after a 3 hour road trip the passenger floor is slightly warm. Also, after a few hours in the summer (this is texas) the transmission tunnel is hotter then the floor where the exaust is running.

I wouldn't worry about it honestly. If you are, I would put some kind of reflective tape on the bottom of your car above the exaust.

 

I left the front heat sheild, over the RB header. The rest of my exhaust, between the header and axle, does not follow the factory route. I'm not even sure if the heat sheilds are still attached to the underside of the car. I know the one over axle, and the one above/beside the muffler are still in place.
Since I have no presilencer in place, only the SS pipe, I have no heat retention points, other than the header and muffler. I also have little hearing left....LOL