Exhaust clearance to chassis and gearbox

[BIGMIKE1]

Stuck the car on a 4 post ramp this morning to try and locate the intermittent thumping sound which seems worse when hot and you only really notice it when sat idling. Ive found the drivers side manifold seems to be touching the chassis rail but the passengers side is about 5mm clear? The engine mounts dont seem to have any play in them so wondering why the drivers side sits lower???
Also found where the exhaust pipe passes next the gearbox before the rear silencer it is pretty much touching the gearbox there! The exhaust pipe seems to have had a couple of nudges with bumps in the road in the past so wondering if this has got a little bit bent and should be further away???

Iam trying to use the Chim as much as possible before winter without actually doing any work on it, so I can get a nice list of winter jobs together and start sourcing the parts in advance. The list just seems to be getting longer and longer at the minute though!

[TJC46]

There should be a spacer plate between the engine mount and the engine. [see pic]
Would suspect the engine mounts in some way or omission of the spacer plate.

[BIGMIKE1]

I was assuming engine mount but expected to see serious damage for it to sit on the chassis. I think I remember seeing a spacer but i'll have to get underneath to have another look. I'll probably replace the engine mounts anyway over winter, just hope that it lifts it a bit!