I am going to install a new exhaust sometime soon. After taking the old exhaust out I also removed the H.E .I found that the tin was so rusty that there was not much holding it on.I removed the tin and sandblasted the 2 pipes. I found a couple small holes (pinholes) that were leaking so I spot welded them to close them. I want to use these pipes until I can afford SS H.E. Is this safe and should I add some sort of heat shield? This is my first 914 and my first resto project. I understand that I will not have heat but it woukld be nice to get the car on the road. Thanks for any feedback...
Overall the car is in good shape and really only needs a little to be road worthy. Attached is a pic of the car. After a year or 2 I want to do a comple restoration but I only paid $1200 for it and if I could get a year or two before restoring that would be sweet.

As long as you are certain that the exhaust pipes have no leaks you should be safe. I would suggest that the heater duct holes be capped to keep anything from entering. Start looking for the SSI pipes now since they are getting harder to find. A full set of 2.0 exhaust + hanger + muffler can replace the complete system on a 1.7 or 1.8.