update: i got under the car today, and my rattling heatshield had actually rusted threw two bolts, and hte back two were barely hanging on. they were too damaged to unbolt so i just ripped it off. it stopped rattling, thats whats important.

on a side note: with the removal of the resonator heat shield my shift boot and new metal shift knob get pretty warm during driving so h:

 

weren't you the one who used those clamps to keep the HS on?....

 

hose clamps, and that was 4gh, not me. heat shields irritate me, so off it went.