I'm pulling my car out of track duty for now and was wondering if it is safe to install a high flow cat without the heatshield shown in the picture. (The one attached to the body, not the cat itself) I can't quite remember where I put it.

Thanks in advance.

 

The passenger foot well will get mighty hot. I installed some extras asbestos insulation there after complaints on long trips.

 

You'll be fine without it. As cdelena said, your footwells might get a tad warmer.

 

How much weight savings can be had by removing all the shields except for the header shield in the engine bay? Any potential problems besides leaves catching on fire, and a warm passenger foot well?

 

Removing ALL of the heat shields on the OEM header will save around 3.9 lbs. The heaviest heat shield is the top header heat shield. I didn't weigh them individually, but the top header heat shield was probably just under 2 lbs.

A little off subject: I recently installed Rick's header that was ceramic coated (Jet Hot/HPC Extreme Sterling). I kept the OEM heat shields on the header. I'll post a writeup probably this weekend to include DIY install, initial impressions, some weight and temp info. I'm currently waiting on my Berk high flow CAT that is ceramic coated on the outside. I'll post info on that after it's installed.

 

I'll be looking forward to your write up. Thanks for the reply on the weights.

Anybody know the weights of the shields after the header?

 

It might get quite a bit more than warm ... to the point where it could melt the carpet. I actually did this when I inadvertantly let an old Corolla idle for many hours.

 

This is true.
That's one of the reasons I had the aftermarket CAT ceramic coated (outside only of course) - to reduce the heat further. Berk's aftermarket high flow CAT doesn't come with heat shields - but is stainless. Stainless steel has better heat retention than the stock CAT's steel alloy.
However, less heat put into the car is better. The OEM heat shields are important on the OEM CAT for a number of reasons - preventing melted carpet is very likely one of them.

 

That's probably due to there being no air flow to the cat. Can anyone with the Berk HFC comment on this?

 

is it okay to not use the heatshield that covers the exhaust headers in the engine bay?