I wanna get a header and like how it looks without a heat shield. But can it be really that bad if I dont have a heat shield? Whats the worse that can happen if I dont use one?

 

Its not bad, though the temps will be higher than normal and depending on your intake you may bog more due to the high temps. You could jet coat the header and that would help keep temps down (makes the header more dull though)

I like heatshields keeps the cops from hatin

 

Jet coat the header, or get a hood with air vents to release heat

 

Does coating hurt the warranty per say? I bought a J's header which I know doesnt have a heatshield.

I am afraid getting it coated would make it lose the warranty. The best heat resistent coating out there is by Swaintech and is called white lightning. Its really thick, but sadly is white in color.

I was considering using the DEI heat wrap on the runners as it seemed lke an easier approach.

I may get a hood like the Seibon hood with vents to help with heat as well, but I am not impressed by the quality of those hoods and don't want to justify spending a lot for a JDM hood...

 

Heat wrap it than.

 

You can wrap the header, but do to cracking issues I would recommend the jet coat instead.

Thermal wrap over time can cause the header to crack and I have not heard of this issue with a header that has been jet coated.

 

I dont see what the big deal is, other than it will heat up the floorboard of the car. I took them off of my celica and thats the only noticeable difference, but I did have a hood scoop. Might be a good idea to make some heat releif above that header.