Will header radiated heat increase with high flow cats vs. no cats?

[ACR Joe]

Presently Belanger headers w/o cats and w/o header heat shields. Installing Random Tech. hi-flow cats to reduce sensory damage (noise and emissions). I have not had a problem due to header heat shield delete. Will that no longer be the case once I install hi-flow cats? Will the increased back pressure and cat temp. yield significantly increased header/underhood temperatures? Bottom line - will I need to reinstall the factory header heat shields? The headers sure look pretty being fully exposed, but in the interest of safe operation ..... Also, I occassionally engage in road racing!

Thanks .....

 

[Chuck 97 GTS]

Hey Joe, I installed the same exact setup as you and was anticipating less heat in the car w/o cats. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. I was told by Lou Belanger not to install the heat shields as anything touching the headers could cause the coating to come off. Of course this was after I spent an hour wrestling to get them on the car...

 

[ACR Joe]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chuck 97 GTS:
..... I installed the same exact setup as you and was anticipating less heat in the car w/o cats. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Chuck:

That's interesting! I found dramatically less heat in the passenger compartment w/o cats and w/headers and 3" exhaust. My concern now is how much additional heat should I anticipate by adding hi-flow cats. I'm sure a bit more heat but enough to warrant re-installing the header heat shields?