Out of curiosity, I just consulted a recent Ford Shop Manual we have
here at the office (we do their publishing systems -- plug, plug :-)
to see what it said about those shields on the front brakes. In most
references in the book, it calls them "splash shields", with a note
at one point indicating that they're made of galvanized steel. Oddly,
an exploded diagram of the assembly calls it a "dust shield", however.
Looks like Ford puts them on to protect against heavy road splashing.
Next time I'm talking to someone at Ford, I'll ask for details; in
the meantime, it looks like I may have to do a 180 on what I said
about air cooling, at least for those cars that don't have the shields
shaped into air scoops...
-- Andy
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