The motivation for creating this heat shield came from my exhaust warping the stock rear bumper – and melting/bubbling the paint on my aftermarket rear bumper. This was mostly due to the overly rich tune from the ecu install, but it was easier for me to temporarily install a heat shield, which may be useful later as well, than to tap the downpipe & tune everything now.

I bought a sheet of aluminum (.090″ x 12″ x 24″) for just under $20 delivered via eBay. I got this thickness because I read about how some were too thin – this may actually be a little too thick for some applications, but worked fine for me. I held it down via 5/32″ long aluminum rivets & 1/8″ medium & short aluminum rivets (you may also get away w/ medium, and possibly short, 5/32″ aluminum rivets).

Total Project Time:
This took me about 2 hours taking my sweet ass time with the hand / hack saw & 30 minutes of which was spent going to Home Depot to pick up rivets since I forgot where I put my other pack of rivets from way back when.

Tools:
- Dremel, jigsaw, hack saw, or any other cutting tool you prefer
- Drill w/ 5/32″ & 1/8″ bits, or whatever size rivets you want to use
- Rivets & riveting tool
- Cardboard/paper for creating a template
- Aluminum sheet (again, mine was .090″ x 12″ x 24″)
- Dry erase marker or something to trace the template onto the aluminum
- Optional: I also used a section of aluminum heat shield barrier with adhesive (used for protecting areas in the engine bay from turbo installs)

Step 1:
I found it much easier to remove the rear bumper than to work with it on the car.

Failed attempt of using purely aluminum heat barrier with adhesive (ripped off @ Horse Thief Mile & took some paint with it).

Step 2:
Create a basic template of what you want your shield to look like with cardboard or paper.

Step 3:
Once you are satisfied with your mock up, trace the design onto the aluminum sheet.

Step 4:
Cut away! I first used a dremel with the jigsaw attachment, but I ended up using an old fashioned hack saw. After that, I smoothed the edges with the Dremel w/ sanding & deburring attachments.

Step 5:
Bend the aluminum sheet if necessary for your application. Then, test fit the sheet onto the bumper. At this point, you can drill pilot holes – drill onto the sheet first, then from there, drill through the bumper & place the rivets by hand to hold the position of the sheet.

Step 6:
Finish up by riveting. In my case, I added the optional heat barrier at the bottom of the bumper so that I didn’t have to bend the thick aluminum to cover that area.

Step 7:
Reinstall the bumper on the car. Take some pics and go “oooo, aaaaa”.

Don’t mind the crooked rear bumper – just look at the heat shield, haha.