97 Civic heat shield rattling on exhaust

[speediva]

So, I love my Civic, but in the last month it's developed this fabulous rattle. I narrowed the rattle down to the heat shield bouncing off the exhaust manifold, but without a jack or ramps, I can't remove it. Any chance it's pliable enough I could bend it so it stops rattling? I'm hoping for a solution that doesn't require me to buy jackstands or ramps...

[DVSNCYNIKL]

Without buying wheel jacks or ramps, try to find a nice size sidewalk and hop one side of you car on it. You should have enough clearance to get under and get it loose. Not sure how tough it is, maybe with a pliers you can remove it.

[kris]

Bend it out should work. DVS has the right idea. I've used a curb to straddle one side of the car on to get clearance.

[speediva]

I'll see what I can come up with in terms of curbs... I guess I'll try bending it first and if that fails I'll go for removal. I'm just tired of sounding like a semi.

[BullShifter]

Just clamp it back on with a hose clamp.

[speediva]

It's not dragging or anything - it's just rattling. If it was dragging I'd just back over a harsh speedbump and pray it ripped off. LOL

[BullShifter]

Or just do it the quickest way.....clamp it!

[speediva]

Originally Posted by BullShifter

Or just do it the quickest way.....clamp it!

But that requires hardcore access under-car, which I don't have. I can barely reach my arm under the car enough to reach the exhaust, let alone get a clamp in there. And I've got long, skinny monkey arms (courtesy of being almost 6') and it's still a challenge. I think I can get enough leverage to bend it, so I'll start there.

[speediva]

Heat shield bent - rattle GONE! Woohoo! But DANG was it hard to reach under there with stock ground clearance.

[DVSNCYNIKL]

Originally Posted by speediva

Heat shield bent - rattle GONE! Woohoo! But DANG was it hard to reach under there with stock ground clearance.

Not a high enough curb? Well, at least you bent it in such a way that it won't rattle again.

[speediva]

I didn't find a curb because the mood struck with the car parked in my driveway. Thankfully I have monkey arms and the heatshield is crazy flimsy!

Oh, and my beloved Civvy just totally died on me at the grocery store tonight. Went in to buy some pop for some friends coming over tonight and came out to a toasted starter. Thankfully the tow guy had a flatbed and bumpstarted it up so I could park it out of the way. Guess I'm not trying to start it up again until I can take it to a shop...