Command module/Service module connection

[Peter B]

Were there any connections between the CM and SM which passed through the CM's heat shield?

I don't think so, but a conservator in this Adam Savage's Tested video thinks it was. Savage is looking at the A11 CM sitting on a cradle, and the CM appears to be bolted to the cradle through the heat shield. The conservator says that these were "the same bolt holes that were used to attach it to the Saturn 5 rocket".

It occurs at about a minute into this video:

Thank you!

[JayUtah]

Here is as complete an explanation as you're likely to get anywhere.

https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/41958/apollo-command-module-heatshield-tube-what-was-it-for

Tl;dr—yes there were stainless steel bolts that passed through the ablative portion of the heat shield in three places. But to be pedantic, this connects the CM to the SM, not to the Saturn IV-B stage. "Tension tie" is functionally equivalent to "bolt" in this application, although it's still ambiguous whether it was cylindrical or not. It seems to be, but other commentators describe it as a "strap." The illustration labeled Figure 11 is the most helpful. The compression pad (not labeled) is tightened until it presses upward hard on the CM, putting the tension tie in, well, tension. This compression-tension strategy is very much like how bombs are attached to airplane wings. It keeps them from wiggling around.

At separation, the linear shaped charge cuts the tension tie, the CM end of which stays there and gets very, very hot during reentry. The portion of the heat shield around the compression pads and tension ties are composed differently, and there is thermal isolation on the CM side.

The video also gives a very informative close-up of the fluid and electrical connections that went around the heat shield and were guillotined apart at separation.