Floor Pan Heat Shield Corrosion and Replacement

Hey all,

A few days ago, I heard a metal-on-metal rattle coming from the backside of my Tacoma, around the muffler. After looking under my truck, it was pretty obvious what was going on; my floor pan heat shield (https://parts.toyota.com/p/Toyota_2...loor-Pan-Heat-Shield/73198116/5832704041.html) had come loose and was vibrating against the muffler. I was able to pull it off without any resistance.

It appears corrosion surrounding the holes in the pan caused it to no longer be held in place by the bolts:



I've seen a few threads (like this one: Heat Shield Question) that recommend using washers to accommodate the over-sized holes. I like this strategy, but I'm wondering if anyone has a recommendation on how to access the bolts that initially held the pan in place since it seems like 2 of the 3 are more or less blocked by the muffler:



I'm also concerned about damaging the bolts when trying to loosen them since they look pretty corroded themselves.

I'm also considering ordering a new pan from Toyota, but access to the bolts would still be a concern in this case.

Any recommendations on an approach are really appreciated!

 

if you dont want to touch the bolts and deal with that headache, JB Weld might keep it up there for a decent amount of years. outside of fiddling and possibly snapping the bolts i dont see too many other options.

 

Lost the shield on my '06 TRD OR AC many years ago. Never bothered trying to replace it. Experienced no real ill effects resulting from its absence.