Master Cylinder Heat Sheild

[TomoHawk]

Obviously the heat shield between the exhaust manifold and the brake's Master Cylinder is there to keep the heat down, but how long could you go without the heat shield? I don't spend a lot of time sitting in traffic, so I figure there's always air going by to keep the temperature down.

thx

[sblake01]

I've never driven the Z without the shield but the 810 doesn't have one. There is more room between the exhaust manifold and the brake master in the 810 than in the Z, however, so I guess Nissan didn't feel that it needed one. Why, is yours missing?

[LanceM]

My 73 never had one that I'm aware of, never had any problems, 280's must be different.

[TomoHawk]

Mine has a rust spot on the engine side, where the bend is. I took it off to de-rust and coat it (white zinc?), so it will be off for a while, and it looks cleaner without, so I might leave it off.

[sblake01]

Come to think of it, I did have mine off for a couple of days. I was changing the a/c evaporator and I needed to remove the heat shield to remove one of the high side lines. I drove it that way until I was satified that the a/c was working correctly. It didn't seem to cause any problems.

[TomoHawk]

It should be no problem as long as the brake fluid doesn't boil. Contemporary brake fluid has a much higher temp., so there is less worry of boiling.