is THIS the restriction everyone is talking about?

[f85gtron]

Wow!  It's more than an 8th inch all the way round!

[Fierofool]

That's part of it.  Smoothing that down will help flow.  There's also some restriction created by the flange to tube welding and also inside the heads.  Just be careful how much you remove. 

[f85gtron]

Ok. I see what you're talking about.
What's the secret to getting off the front manifold heat shield?!
Ron

[Fierofool]

That, I don't know.  I've never removed one, but I read that they are installed between the head and manifold.  There's some discussion about which side of the gasket they should be insalled on so pay attention when disassembling.  It's recommended that you go ahead and order the Saturn manifold stud kit from The Fiero Store and even if you don't break your manifold studs, replace them anyway. 

[f85gtron]

Mine is attached to the manifold studs. I read an article that for this type, they are stamped steel nuts. They're probably half rusted, so I'm gonna take a break and tackle this later.
Ron

[Raydar]

On the front (window side) head, there are two heat shields.
There is one that wraps around the manifold, and would seem to be designed to keep stuff from getting against the manifold and getting burned.
There is also a flat one that goes against the head (then the gasket, then the manifold.)
It's designed to keep vital fluids off of the catalytic converter in the event that you happen to air-mail a rod through the front of the block, thus preventing a Fiero Flambe', and helping to prevent the furthering of the stereotype.
It also serves to funnel oil, that is leaked from the valve cover, away from the exhaust system.

The "outside" one is probably just held on by stamped nuts or maybe additional "regular" hardware.
In any event, you should be able to remove it, while leaving the manifold still bolted on.

[f85gtron]

Ok, thanks. Fiero flambe'...love it! 
Ron

[f85gtron]

Ok. It's torn down now. Mine only had the one heat shield that wraps around the log, nothing between the head, gasket, then manifold. Uh oh.  Should i be carrying a bag of marshmallows and a poker around with me?
Ron

[Raydar]

I forgot to mention that the large flat heat shield was installed as part of the "engine fire" recall. It's not a factory piece.
Even if the recall work was done, there's at least an outside chance that it may have been left off. It seems that a lot of the recall work was done "half-assedly".

[Fierofool]

Yep.  When I had the recall done on my first 85, that recall plate wasn't installed and the manifold shield was just hung over the manifold.  Not even bolted on. 

[f85gtron]

Alright!  Got my manifolds back and now I'm ready to open em up!  How do you clean up stainless? 

[Fierofool]

Discoloration of the manifolds may be due to the heat and it's not just on the surface.  If you use anything abrasive, maybe bead blasting could help.  I wouldn't use sand blasting, though.  Sand removes metal.  While glass bead blasting does, too, it isn't as aggressive as sand.  It probably isn't worthwhile unless you plan to have them coated.

Who did you get to do the welding for you?

[f85gtron]

I took them to POLAR. They weld up big truck tanker trailers and work with stainless all day long. The welds are ugly because i asked them to use a bigger rod. End result is a bulky bead.....but who cares!  Redundancy is better than pretty in this case.
Ron

[f85gtron]

UPDATE: 
It's amazing how much material was in the way of the exhaust flow!  Here's a before and after shot.
Ron

[f85gtron]

Ok, so, in my research on the 2.8's special brand of restrictions, I've found a couple more. One being the intake plenum and the other being the heads. I posted the heads by mildly hogging out the intake bowls and ports, then removing the spark plug humps in the exhaust ports, then opened them up a little.
But the intake plenum was the most exciting to do because the difference is easy to see and hopefully to feel, in conjunction with all the other work done.....
I first took a plasma cutter and cut out the offending member, then cut a section of 2" aluminum pipe and formed it to shape, then welded it in place.
You can see that the egr has to be dealt with...I'm not sure how to go about it....
If i move the pcv hookup to the back of the plenum, will that cause any problems?
Ron