muffler shield
 

I wonder how many Saturn owners here have had to deal with that flimsy, foolish, funky aluminum shield they stuck between the muffler and the gas tank. That is about the poorest arrangement they ever came up with. Every one who agrees, raise your hand. I see that hand! (Now you know I used to be a preacher. Well actually, I still am. heh heh) I don't know if they were originally held on with bolts or what. It does look like they were. The mounting holes rust out terribly! And the bolts that held them on rust just as bad. Whatever the case, there is no way to secure the thing any more because of all the rust damage. So, you have this constant rattle back there because the shield is just laying there, banging against the muffler and whatever else is near by.
Question: is it safe to pull the thing out of there? I can imagine that would be a lot of fun! :o
Ron K

It rusted out on the L series that I owned... When I changed the fuel pump, I removed it... The car didn't spontaneously combust afterward, so I assume it is safe...

Punch holes in it and thread zipties through, long enough to be away from muffler and cinch it back down to the frame

Zip ties... now that's a thought. I made a bracket for the one on the LW300 and got part of it secure. And managed to find a nut that fastened on one of the bolts, even as rusty as it was. Those 2 things took care of the rear part of the shield. But now the front part is banging. My goodness! I wonder where I can find some good old baling wire. There probably are enough holes in it already without making new ones, but I will check it out the next time I get enough ambition to crawl under it again. Thanks for the tip.

Any good hardware store still sells bailing wire. I've got a roll that I've had for over 10 years now. It does come in handy from time to time!

I'd really rather someone else crawl under that car and do the work while I applaud.