Taking heat shield off muffler

[smokin240]

The person who had my car before me (93 240sx) wrapped wire around the heat shield i guess so it wouldnt rattle. it rattles really bad anyway, and the bolts securing the heat shield are rusted so bad there formed into it.... anyone got any idea how to get this off other than welding.

[wild_maxx]

well when i took my heat shields off most of the bolts just broke off while i was doing it. i beleive it is a 10mm socket that i used and i didnt have a problem getting them off. the only problem that i had was with the header heat shield. that was a prick to get off and that took me the longest to do. hope this helps out.

[DrIfT_FoReVeR]

yeah, its a 10mm socket, and dont expect to use those things again. the bolts WILL break off. i had a hell of a time getting the head shield off of the exhaust manifold too. sucker took me an hour to get off...it was the one inside the bend of the pipe. damn thing was at a crazy angle. anyway, watch out for the fiberglass stuff that pours out. caused my arms to itch like a mother for a week.

also, if you ever drive barefoot, watch out, the floorboard right underneath the gas pedal gets pretty hot after taking off those heat shields since the pipe runs RIGHT under there.

also, im not trying to hijack, but can i take off the cat converter heat shield, or will that yield harmful results, like an overheated cat?

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT HEADER HEAT SHIELD!

[240sxJay]

You don't even really need your header heat shield ...might as well take it off. IF your going to upgrade to headers you wouldn't be using your oem anyways. If you have problems taking off bolts first I suggest PB blaster, if that fails you can use an impact gun.

[smokin240]

well the bolts heads are striped beyond screwing them off and there rusted to the shield. I know I cant screw them off, need some way to break them off, i was thinking some heavy duty wire cutters. I dont have a welder, but if its cheap I might have a shop do it.

[Darius]

smokin240: the way I did it on my Acura was to use a cutting disc on the end of a drill. If you can cut off the nut, you might be able to separate the two halves of the heat shield if the metal isn't completely fused together.

I'm also wondering if I take out the cat and put a straight pipe in it's place, what issues will I run into with the second O2 sensor and floorboard heat (97 S14)?

[navysnail]

fyi-removing the cat is a federal offence

with that said, it will make the cel come on, but no performance effects or anything of that nature

and use a pair of vice grips on the shield, i took mine off, they are a pita like you have realized

[Darius]

Is there any way to jumper the second O2 connector so that it doesn't throw a cel?