Scattershield ques?

My friend has a lakewood scattershield that he will sell to me for cheap. It has never been used but it is a couple years old. Don't they have to be recertified after a certain amount of time? Also he said he's gonna sandblast it and paint it; this leads me to believe there might be some rust on it.
Will the age and the sandblasting weaken it?

Also, I was looking through Jeg's and saw a scatter blanket made by RCI for only 90 bucks. It measures 50" by 12" and has 3 straps the length of it to hold it on. The blanket is SFI approved, but can I use it in a 5-speed application, or is it only legal for an auto? Also it should contain an exploding clutch right? I don't want to lose my feet.

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1988 MUSTANG GT Full exhaust, Edelbrock intake, Accel, pullies, K&N, Eibach drag springs, subframes, 3.55s
13.12/102/1.80 at Byron Raceway