Fuel tank guard thingamy - is it needed?

Can anyone explain what the purpose is of the the metal guard that fits to the tank?
I've had mine blasted and powder coated but its pretty nackered with quite a few small holes in it. Do I even need this? Does it serve any purpose?

That would really depend on what engine you are running. Hot running GTI, absolutely!
The main purpose is to help dissapate the heat that emanates from the exhaust, which runs very close to the tank.
Originally they were not installed but problems with fuel vapourisation led to the recall and install of the shields. (I am sure I have a recall notice somewhere)

Incidentally I believe they were all manufactured in Mexico, I have never seen one stamped from Germany and I have a fair share of them, if you have had yours blasted you should be able to make out the stamp

Sounds like the heat shield you're talking about, fits on the corner above the exhaust yeah ?, if that's the one then it's job is to keep heat off the tank from the exhaust, probably a good idea to keep it I guess, they're pretty thin eh, mine rusted away to nothing so had to fab something up in it's place

tubbett said

That would really depend on what engine you are running. Hot running GTI, absolutely!
The main purpose is to help dissapate the heat that emanates from the exhaust, which runs very close to the tank.
Originally they were not installed but problems with fuel vapourisation led to the recall and install of the shields. (I am sure I have a recall notice somewhere)

Incidentally I believe they were all manufactured in Mexico, I have never seen one stamped from Germany and I have a fair share of them, if you have had yours blasted you should be able to make out the stamp

Great info there, I've had the same problem with vapourisation and leads to pinking when it's been sat idling stationery for a while, quite close to my Jetex, been after a decent one for a while if anyone has one

Yeah its stamped mexico.
Was hoping I could do without it but I guess that would be too easy  
I''ll have to keep my eyes peeled for a fresh one.

Thanks for the help

can always try some stick on heat shielding stuff, plenty about to choose from

You can also get down to a scrap yard and see if any other cars have a simular heat sheild, I got a bit from a 2001 VW polo to cover my tunnel where the exhaust runs for all of £2 and that goes from the front of the car to the fuel tank!
Most of the newer heat sheilds are alloy with a covering over them so they are easy to bend/mold into shape but you might need to make some kind of fixing.

I used some Cool It Thermo Shield tape on my tank. My old tank didn't have a heat shield but i noticed my exhaust is fairly close so thought i'd better put something on there.

I already had the tape in the garage so thought it was worth a try, i knew it'd be easy to form to the curves of the tank too. Here's a pic.