Muffler heat shield

[don58van]

Has anyone tried using the heat shield without the insulating pad inside?
I am restoring a '68 van and it appears to have the original insulating material inside--which might be the dreaded asbestos. I am thinking of safely removing and disposing the pad and replacing the metal shield with no insulating material inside. In that case the air gap inside the shield would provide a degree of insulation. When the vehicle is moving, there would be air movement through gap in the shield.
Now I know some will think that BMC/Leyland know best but I am wondering whether the pad is overkill.

On the other hand, has anyone successfully tried non-asbestos material in the shield?

Why don't I just buy a new one? Postage to Australia is $22 which is considerably more than the replacement item itself.

Don

[philthehill]

One of the worst moves BMC did was to fit the heat shield. If not removed the section of floor above the heat shield will rot away due to the damp material in the tray.
My recommendation is to remove and discard the heat shield completely. One of the first jobs I did on my Minor way back and it never caused any problems.
You can monitor the floor above the exhaust and revisit the heat shield issue if required.
You could fit a shield around the exhaust pipe/silencer that does not have contact with the floor. It is better to let the exhaust rot than the floor rot away.
Phil

[geoberni]

I don't understand why they considered it necessary in the first place.
My Minor has a couple of inches gap to the underfloor and it's only a rather small silencer, it's not as if it's a huge great Catalytic Converter which do get hot. ...

[don58van]

Thanks for your replies. I will take your advice.

Don