I had .020" aluminum left over from my radiator diffuser install so you will need a sheet approximately 16"X16" depending if you do the upper and lower shield.
So lets get started with some cardboard to make some templates. First lay it over the manifold and find the holes for mounting it. Next take measurements of how long you want the shield to be, how wide it will be, a provision for the external gate if you have one, etc.
It should look something like this:
My cardboard was a little short so i decided to make another and add flaps to aid in heat protection. This is easy just measure how long you want the flap to be on the passenger side, the driver side is a little tricky but really its just smaller.
Now its about tracing your templates with accuracy. Once you've done that i took a cut off wheel and carefully cut the lines. If you have access to a shear, its 10x better. If you use a cut off wheel you will have to file the edges -easy. If you use a tin snips make sure to do so in areas that won't be seen, otherwise it looks like crap and tends to bend the metal as you cut. However you can flatten it with a rubber mallet.
To make clean bends i just placed a straight piece of wood underneath my traced line and bent it over with my hand.
To do this project you just need a few hand tools and a cut off wheel and some patience.
Two pieces for easy removal.
I was surprised that the aluminum helped trap in a lot of the heat radiating off the manifold and turbo. I could stick my hand between the turbo and radiator without feeling my hand on fire. I also noticed this helped with my coolant temps. Dropping from 206-209 to 03-206 *F
Make your own manifold heat shield
