Never seen this "Formal" part before...

[commando1]

Any of the Formal Best & Brightest ever see this thing before? New to me.

 

[1978 NYB]

Nope. Looks like a heat shield.

 

[detmatt]

Protecting the exhaust pipe from ground heat?

 

[1978 NYB]

Protecting the oil pan from heat .

 

[Big_John]

I'm betting there's another shield missing downstream from that shield in the pic. If you look, there's shields all the way down the pipe after the cat. I would expect that if the crossover gets hot enough at that point, then it would even get hotter after the other down tube.

Any chance this is a cop car? There were issues with the cops idling off the road and setting the grass on fire underneath them. This may be overkill to prevent the issue.

 

[detmatt]

Do I need to add this to my post?

 

[cantflip]

Any of the Formal Best & Brightest ever see this thing before? New to me.

View attachment 112315

My guess... confirmed with 78 FSM "Mini-OX converter assembly with exhaust pipe. 8 cylinder California and some 360 high altitude packages" page 11-5, 11-6, 11-10

So it's and oxidation converter, which for some reason only services one bank on this 2 into 1 exhaust. Maybe they wanted to do something to reduce what went to the main converter which would be given O2 by the air pump.

Seems like a good way to cook the oil in the pan to me.

 

[bluefury361]

Anti bogger.....?

 

[1978 NYB]

Both of my 78's with 400's didn't have any of that. The NYB was a 41k car and the Newport was 52k

 

[commando1]

My guess... confirmed with 78 FSM "Mini-OX converter assembly with exhaust pipe. 8 cylinder California and some 360 high altitude packages" page 11-5, 11-6, 11-10

So it's and oxidation converter, which for some reason only services one bank on this 2 into 1 exhaust. Maybe they wanted to do something to reduce what went to the main converter which would be given O2 by the air pump.

Seems like a good way to cook the oil in the pan to me.

Damn, how many of those survived. Four? Five?
I wonder if your car would flunk the inspection in CA without it. I mean, how many inspectors are that savvy?

 

[saforwardlook]

Those shields were used on California cars with air pumps. During cold starts, exhaust gas is routed to the passenger side exhaust on cold starts via the heat valve/crossover where air is injected into the driver side exhaust manifold (and sometimes both manifolds to help with emissions during warmed up operation also) to help react with the oxidation converter to reduce hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide emissions during cold starts primarily, when those emissions are at their peak. The heat shields were used due to the higher exhaust gas temperatures in the exhaust system due to the ox converter and the air pump, in order to reduce the likelihood of grass fires. The federal or 49 state cars didn't have the air pumps or close coupled ox cats generally although there might have been exceptions.

 

[commando1]

Steve's brain visualized.

 

[cm23uoc]

I see it more like this.

 

[cantflip]

Damn, how many of those survived. Four? Five?
I wonder if your car would flunk the inspection in CA without it. I mean, how many inspectors are that savvy?

They're probably not if someone replaced it with a 49 state Y pipe and made sure a catalyst was installed. If you obviously welded in a patch pipe, I bet they would pick it right up. I bet most of these were 360 cars anyhow. Didn't Cali reject the 400 in 78?

 

[Mr C]

They're probably not if someone replaced it with a 49 state Y pipe and made sure a catalyst was installed. If you obviously welded in a patch pipe, I bet they would pick it right up. I bet most of these were 360 cars anyhow. Didn't Cali reject the 400 in 78?

Yup, California and High Altitude meant no 400...there is was 440 or 360.

 

[saforwardlook]

You guys are too much!!! I only remember some things in life that are important, like relative to Mopars!

 

[1978 NYB]

Those shields were used on California cars with air pumps. During cold starts, exhaust gas is routed to the passenger side exhaust on cold starts via the heat valve/crossover where air is injected into the driver side exhaust manifold (and sometimes both manifolds to help with emissions during warmed up operation also) to help react with the oxidation converter to reduce hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide emissions during cold starts primarily, when those emissions are at their peak. The heat shields were used due to the higher exhaust gas temperatures in the exhaust system due to the ox converter and the air pump, in order to reduce the likelihood of grass fires. The federal or 49 state cars didn't have the air pumps or close coupled ox cats generally although there might have been exceptions.[/QUOTE

Makes sense. This car couldn't have a 400. No 400 ever had an air pump on it and you couldn't get a Mopar in California with a 400.

 

[1978 NYB]

Crap. Mr. C beat me to it. Lol.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

So Steve what exactly does a ox converter do? I have seen them on 318 Dippy's and Fifth Ave's.

 

[commando1]

So Steve what exactly does a ox converter do? I have seen them on 318 Dippy's and Fifth Ave's.

Think of it as a pre computer cheat to get past emissions while idling during the safety inspection...