Exhaust heatshield

[67-2door]

How important is the exhaust heatshield? I presume it screws to the passenger side floor above the silencer box? I was underneath my Minor at the weekend giving it a good coat of dinitrol & noticed that mine doesn't have one. Am I in danger of heating up my floor or setting fire to the dinitrol or will it not matter?
Thanks.
Neil.

[RobMoore]

Hmm I also don't have one so will piggy back this thread

[PSL184]

It will help to keep your passengers feet warm in the winter without one fitted. With one fitted you will have a perfect moisture trap to speed up the rot in your floorpan. Original ones also contain a large lump of asbestos which you should obviously handle with the appropriate care

[67-2door]

So there's more chance of it rotting the floor by having it than of causing any damage by not having it?

[PSL184]

Yes, I'd say so.....

[mike.perry]

Mine fell off years ago. Definately keeps the passenger's feet warm and has not yet set fire to the carpets

[minor65]

It is only a water/rust trap, remove it.[frame][/frame]

[katy]

Now you tell me, after I bought a new one to install.
What if one was to have the heat shield w/out the insulating pad in it? would that work?

[MarkyB]

Hardly, give the metal above it an extra dose of paint and/or rust treatment then stick some washers under the holder so any water that finds it's way in there can dry out.
Probably out last the rest of the car.

[bmcecosse]

Yes - that obviously helps. It's the 'asbestos' pad that holds water against the floor that causes the problem. Of course I'm sure it's not asbestos these days - but equally sure it was originally!

[katy]

Well the new pad is loose in the metal retainer, so w/washers betwixt the floor pan and the retainer the pad would just slip out on it's own. So methinks that I'll just put the retainer on w/washers and w/out the pad.

[67-2door]

Thanks for all the opinions chaps, I think on that basis I wont bother replacing the heatshield

[MarkyB]

Stick the pad to the holder with some silicone sealer?

[oilypaws]

A handy thread as I have been wondering the same! When I saw mine (probably original) I was 99% sure it was asbestos, so I treated it with extreme caution (used a dust mask and wetted it all down with a damp rag to control the dust). And yes, the part underneath it was one of the most rusty bits of the floor - not too bad though, considering it had been there 45 years.

The (amatuer) engineer in me says that it would still work quite well if you had the plate, and then an air gap (using a couple of washers to seperate it). But it it's not required, I'll probably leave it off (might be useful since I don't have a heater...).