After seeing all the work people have done to make their cars as rust free as possible. I decided to do my part. The rear trunk floor pan was " repaired " when I got the flares installed 28 years ago. I thought the body man had removed the original metal and replaced it with a flat piece just slightly above it. When in reality he just welded a piece over the top and left the original pan in place. Although it has stayed dry for these past few years I couldn't allow myself to continue without tearing out the original and the " fix ". So today I get the replacement part from restoration design and have it 90% installed and welded up.
The question I have is the heat shield. Is it needed to provide it's original use to keep heat out of the trunk or is it added weight?

A BIG YES ! Keep the heat shield.

the heat shield deflects a phenomenal amount of hear. If we could figure out how to capture it, we could all put in headers and get rid of the old heat exchangers.

Any ideas about finding replacements? Mine is rusting out.

The PO of my car cut the heat shield in half for a crappy exhaust install. I replaced my rear trunk pan and left it out. I have the pad and carpet in the trunk and its been fine for years.

It would be fine without it, depending on what exhaust you run.

Go find a wrecked late model Nissan Altima, Honda or Mercedes. Above the muffler you will find these two ply aluminum honeycomb heat shields. Same length as the 914 and about 2 inches wider. Only weights 9 oz compared to the factory heat shield boat anchor. Weld or bolt some 1 inch standoffs under the floor and you have a trick shield and lose some weight. Mercedes uses them just behind the qtr panels and they cost about $28.00 -they are formable.


993's and 996's uses the same material attached to the rear bumper reinforcements to keep the bumper cover from melting.

I removed the heat shield to repair the trunk floor then decided to make it removable so I welded bolts to the hangers and bolted it in. I've already removed it a couple of times to repair some rear-end damage and to paint.

my 70 4 cyl never had one, the 6 does. Did karmann forget to put it in that afternoon after a few beers at lunch?

Most of the early 70's year model 4 and 6 had bolted in heat shields. The boys at Osnabruck might have had a few extra beers at lunch.

That's a Hell of a fine idea. And the OG shield is heavy.

Any idea how much one really weighs?

Mine has been gone for years. No problems, but not a daily driver. Paint in trunk is fine. Probably weighs 3 lbs

I just tossed a rusty one in the trash. More like 10 pounds.