Ferrari Mailing List: heat shield and isolating foam ????

[Michel Savard (mysavard]

1981 308 GTSi: My mechanic suggested I took all the original heat shield around the exhaust pipes off. Since it was all cracked and missing bits, it was probably the cause of the funny noises which we could not figure out the source. Plus, he added it was not THAT necessary. Mmmm ??

 

Every now and then, I try to cut off pieces of it. It's very hard to do because there is just no room to work into. I'm amazed by the amount of strange ISOLATING WHITE FOAM (for lack of better words) that is between the heat shield and the exhaust pipes. It looks like the pink stuff you put in walls in a house. Except it's more dense.

 

What is that ?

What is it doing ?

I know it sounds stupid, but I hope it's not asbestos. It sure looks like it.

 

Thank you!

Michael Savard