yesterday i pulled my engine out of my FD for the first time and then stripped it down to the block. well while taking it apart i noticed i am missing the heat shield that goes around the downpipe and i think there was another one i was missing. the only one that was actually there was the one that goes around the exhaust manifold. how important do you guys think they are, and should i go ahead and get them for when i put the car back together??

 

the heat shield that goes by the downpipe made a big difference in my car. i was driving the car with out that heat shield because i had lost it during the build up of the car and the car was extremely hot during the day but worked well as a heater on cold nights with the windows down.

 

while its apart, wrap the downpipe in exhaust wrap to help keep the heat out of the engine compartment. do a search on exhaust wrap for more info.