Agreed, I really like the red to match the lettering.
I wonder if some high temp clear coat would help with smell or just make it worse?
I used once on an engine block and I never smelt anything.

 

Not sure - I was thinking that the heat shield does get pretty hot (a bit below 300F) and is close to the air intake, so that is what leads to the paint smell. I still have some smell even today, almost a week (and around 400 miles) later. But I am noticing paint coming off the bolts, so that may be cooking off, or flaking and falling onto the exhaust manifold via one of the holes in the shield maybe. The shield itself is still immaculate

I was thinking of a gloss, but this seems glossy enough. I'll give it the time frame of an OCI or so and see how it holds up. I have 2,500 miles to go on this OCI, so in 7,000 miles or so (about 4 months) we'll see!

 

Keep us posted how it holds up, please.