I found and fixed rattle number one (heat shield above left CV boot was rattling against Y-pipe), now I'm on to rattle #2. The fuel tank heat shield is rattling. In another thread, someone mentioned that loose rivets can cause this. Sure enough, they're loose. It was also mentioned that it's not hard to fix. I sure don't see a way to get in there to re-rivet though (photo below). If anyone has a solution for this one, your guidance will be appreciated very much. Image Unavailable, Please Login
ok, I think I've got a plan. I pulled the bracket out. Removed the 10mm nut holding the bracket to the fire-wall, then just pulled until the nearly-falling-out rivets let go. Tomorrow I'll take the bracket to my motorcycle shop (I refurbish motorcycles for a living), drill out the old rivets and then decide whether to replace them with screws+lock nuts, or try to find a pivot head rivet gun that will get me down into that tight space (unlikely).
Sure, just filled in some details. It's a 1995 F355 Spider. I ended up getting it sorted using two stainless steel allen bolts. I cut threads into the bracket where the rivets were located. Threaded the allen bolts into the bracket. Pressed them through the holes in the heat shield, then secured them from behind with washers and nylon lock nuts. I was working carefully and slowly, so it took me about 5 hours, including sourcing the screws. I also bought rivets, but realized that they would likely just pull through again. That is, if I could get a rivet tool into the space without pulling the engine out. I'll post photos of the end result in a day or two.
