OK heat shields?

[CU DSM]

Does this exhaust manifold heat shield look OK? What about the lower heat shield?
Oxidized?
Corroded?

It seems like almost everything looks really good here except for those two items. Maybe it's just normal ageing?

Thank you for your input!

[biglady112]

It looks fine. Most 1G's appear like this. They have 10-15 years of 1300*+ heat on them. So its to be expected that some wear/discoloration will occur.
You can remove them. I have with every car I have worked on. Just make sure that o2 sensor is tied to the fans. Don't let it hit the manifold. It will look cleaner and open up room. But you don't have to if you don't. I like the look of the manifold.

Steve

[DlandryTSI]

Yes thats normal. However I wouldn't remove it. Just replace it if you don't like it.

--Dave

[CU DSM]

Thanks guys!

That's what I thought, but I just wanted to make sure. Assuming I get the car, I'll probably leave them on for now/replace them. Maybe down the road if I really need the room, then I'll remove them.

[ryanman]

They're there for a reason, leave them on.

[CU DSM]

Maybe I'll just replace them, down the road a ways with newer looking ones. However, I'm not really concerned with the cosmetic aspects yet.

Performance first, then looks!

Correction: Car first, then performance, with looks a distant third!

[CU DSM]

Since the picture's here, everything else looks fine, doesn't it... at least from what you can tell from a little picture?

[Jack(IAT)]

I would be willing to bet that mani has a few good cracks in it. I would pop that cover off and take a close look at it. Just remember, the mani cracks on the bottom first, so if you see a crack on the top, then the bottom is a real mess. Also, check the cylinder head to exhaust mani studs. If any are broken, there is a good chance you will have to remove the head to fix it. No matter what the seller says about 1 broken stud being okay, it's not, and the car will never be right until that's fixed. A broken stud can be a very clostly repair.

Yep, the cover is missing bolts, so someone has been screwing around in there. Definitely check for cracks and broken studs.

Jack

[CU DSM]

Jack, thank you for the reply about the manifold. I appreciate your insight on this and have sent an e-mail to the owner of the car about the issue in question, in addition to a couple of other questions I had for him.

I really appreciate all of the support and knowledeable feedback I've gotten on this site from all of you regarding my questions about this car.

If I do end up purchasing this car (probably after a thorough inspection from the shop that Mandy recommended... thanks Mandy!), I'm sure I'll have a ton of questions down the road and look forward to learning from and thinking about your responses!

[CU DSM]

So I asked the guy about "removing the heat shield."

He said: "The heat shield was taken off by me to try and clean
some of the oxidation off, with not too much success.
I lost one of the bolts for it though. I looked at the
exhaust mani, and common for the year, there is a
hairline crack, although it doesn't go through and by
no means leaks or makes that tall-tale (sic) exhaust leak
pss pss pss sound."

What the...?

"Hairline crack"... doesn't sound too good to me. Is this a big deal, or should I not really worry about it right now? I could replace the manifold, but I don't really want to right away if I don't have to. What happens (bad things, I'm guessing) if it just decides to become more than a "hairline crack"?

[ryanman]

I really wouldn't worry about it. It's not like it's gonna crack all to hell within the next 10k miles. You can get a good 2G mani for about 50 bucks or so.

[Jack(IAT)]

A crack is a leak. When a crack is visible from the top, then you have big ones on the bottom. You normally can't hear a leak from the mani unless it's totally split apart. I would worry about it, because if you decide to replace it, which you should, you might have a stud break on you which will require the head to be removed. I can look at it for you if you would like, but you need to come down to the Springs though. I can normally tell when a stud is getting brittle and will be a problem removing...

Oh, and I have a special tool I spent a lot of money on designed to remove the nuts without breaking the studs. So far, we have not broken any with this tool.

Jack

[intaginize]

You can get a used 2g manifold that wont crack for around $75 to 100 actually Jared B. was just selling one for $75. Every 1g manifold I have seen has cracks in it, so that is just something you should expect with a 14yr old DSM. The only 1g manifolds that dont crack are the 13g Ex manifolds and they are small. I almost guarantee the 14b turbo if it's stock has cracks in the turbine housing as well. But you'll eventually upgrade to a 16g and 2g manifold anyways. If the car runs good and is under 3k go for it, did you check the Compression on the Engine, that the #1 thing you should check. the turbo and manifold can be replaced down the road. But if it's a stock car it's not worth more then 3k.

PS- Hey JACK give me a call and let me know when your coming down to Golden again, I need to get that tranny up to so I can get it built up. My Talon has been sitting WAY tooo LONG. Give me a hollar work 303.403.4690 cell 303.324.7394 Thanks
Keith G.

[CU DSM]

I'd have to fly you out to Chicago with me for you to look at it though!

Mandy recommended a shop out there to me that I'll probably have take a "pre-buy" look at/inspection of the car. I still haven't had a chance to call them about doing so yet though.

I will use this "hairline" crack as a point of negotiation no matter what though, as it will need to be tended to in the near future.

I was probably going to replace the manifold eventually anyway, and if I can do it for $100 or less, I'll probably just do it when I get back here, unless it needs to be done before driving the car back to Denver from Chicago.

I might have a chance to call the shop while I'm driving all over Denver today delivering wine. I'll post a reply later today or tomorrow if I find anything out from the shop in Chicago.

Thank you everyone for all of the help so far. If you have any more tips/advice, please keep it coming.

[CU DSM]

Compression is 147-150 across the cylinders. The car has 84.5K original miles, never modded, 1+owner vehicle. I'm not going to list everything again because I've already talked about this car elsewhere in the forums and don't won't to bore anybody to tears. Since I haven't posted too much before, if you want to read about the car, simply search through my posts and you'll be able to get a good feel for the car right away.

I am planning on upgrading a lot of things... over time of course though, in an intelligent and planned manner. I want to do it right the first time! Yes, the turbo will eventually be upgraded, but not before the proper steps are taken.

[Jack(IAT)]

Don't they use salt on the roads in Chicago? I've noticed Jap cars have a very hard time with salt. Have him take pics of the suspension.

Jack

[v413nc3]

Chicago DSMs are probably the worst I've ever seen. Every time I try to take a part off one it usually has to be replaced because it's fused. Ask Mandy or Seth about it. I'm not sure if they salt the roads or if the roads ARE salt.

[CU DSM]

Very true indeed. I'm not sure if Chicago is worse than Michigan, but either way, you're pretty much gauranteed a rust bucket.

However, this car has luckily only been in Chicago since August or so. I don't believe it's really seen any salt yet since the previous owner (before August of this year) lived in Tennessee.

So, the car might have seen some salt in the last month or two, but beyond that, I believe it's fine. I've already asked about rust, and supposedly there is none on the car.

I attempted to call the shop in Chicago that Mandy recommended and left a message for the guy, but have not heard back on having a pre-sale inspection done.

Does anyone have a pre-buy/examination checklist they would recommend I use for my own evaluation purposes?

My parents are driving out to Chicago in a few days and my dad said he'd take a look at the car for me before I commit to trekking out there myself. And luckily with my dad having a minor in psychology, along with the line of work he's in, he is a very good judge of character, so he should be able to give me a good idea about the current owner as well as the condition of the car.

If anyone has a checklist/website/link/thread they'd recommend, I thank you ahead of time for providing the information!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone as well!

[dgsx1997]

Yes thats normal. However I wouldn't remove it. Just replace it if you don't like it.

--Dave

Like it has been said leave it on, it really does make a considerable difference in the under hood temps. I pulled mine off and under hood temps went up extremely high on a warm day and 10-20 degress on a cold day. Needless to say it is back on and will remain on.

Donovan