Rachel,

I retained the heatshield on my I4 conversion. I feel that it does do some
good in reducing the amount of heat radiated from the muffler into the
engine compartment. I think this is especially cogent (*S*) when idling in a
traffic jam after some hot hwy driving.

But I do agree that it often rattles and vibrates. It is supposed to connect
to the "full under the van noise shield" (FUVNS), and when that is in place
the rear heat shield is held securely and does not vibrate.

However, I found that the "FUVNS" raises oil temps by as much as 10 degrees
C during hwy driving. For example, right now in Victoria the ambient temp is
around 25C, driving for 20 minutes at 60 mph (approx 4,100 rpm) will produce
oil temps of 105C without the shield, 115C with the shield.

So I try and keep the "FUVNS" off the van, I had it on this winter (for some
reason I can't remember now), removed it a few weeks a go.

But back to the rattling shield..

Without the "FUVNS", I use baling wire to tie the shield forward to the
longitudinal engine mounting tubes. It takes a bit of fussing to get it
right. In that VW publication "Technical Recommendation. Journeys under
difficult conditions" (I think you can find it posted at type2.com), on the
pages describing power unit protection for diesels, there is info on making
and installing some straps to hold the shield in place. One of these days I
do it that way.

Alistair

on 14/7/01 8:48 PM, Rachel Cogent at Gnarlodious@EARTHLINK.NET wrote:

> Well I  drove from Spokane to Denver with nary a hiccup, problem is my
> diesel is not endowed with the bottom sheet metal so the heat shield between
> the muffler and engine vibrates hideously. I used springs to dampen it but
> what I really want to do is remove the shield totally or at least trim it
> down to a minimum with shears.
> Can anyone tell me how necessary that shield is? I assume it's purpose is to
> protect the rubber belts from heat. I do not expect to drive in extremely
> hot weather continuously.
> Please advise.
>
> PS: Motorious runs like new!
>