You have to take at least one out .....

 

Why is that? It appears there's enough room around the sensors for it to pull straight off as long as the wires to the sensors are disconnected.
If you gotta you gotta though. I got the top two bolts out already and will next attack the lower two next. Just didn't want to have to mess with the sensors if it wasn't necessary. There's an O'reilly's nearby so I can go get a loaner O2 sensor socket there. Thanks.

 

The o2 sensors point out at an angle so there's not enough room to get the heat shield off .

 

Thanks Phat. I'm about to that point. Picking up a sensor socket today.

 

I just did this on mine. The plugs on the ends of the O2 sensors are to large to fit through the holes in the heat shield. Also, at least one of the O2 sensors blocks the removal of the top shield. Use some break free spray (pb blaster, maybe) and invest $10 in a proper O2 sensor socket. Take the oppurtunity to examine the sensor tips for condition, and see if you can photograph the tops of the precats, see if they are in ok condition. It turns out, one of mine is breaking down, I'm going to remove it soon.
I neglected to mentioned, even though I sprayed the top two shied bolts with break free spray multiple times daily for a week before I began, one of the bolts sheared off anyway. Just ordered a metric tap and die set to take care of rethreading that hole...

 

Thanks for the info. I'm all done. Ready to paint now.

 

What color are you going to paint it? I got a little creative with mine...

 

What's that wire that runs upward from behind the battery for? A CB Radio antenna?

 

It's a coax line that goes to a dual band antenna situated on the rear edge of the engine lid.

That engine lid is a terrible place for transmitting... Especially with LED bulbs that throw all kinds of interference.

When I can't activate a repeater from 12 miles with 45 watts, there is a problem. There just isn't enough flat sheet metal on this car for what I want to do...

 

Kenwood TK-880 in case you were wondering

 

Can't you use an antenna with a longer mast? Or is it specially tuned to a frequency or frequencies...

 

You can unplug the O2 sensors, push the plug through the hole and pull the heat shield off. I took the right O2 sensor off too, but my left sensor was cross-threaded into the manifold.