How close should the exhaust manifold be to the chassis?

[ITVRI]

I was surprised to find that in the area where the 4 pipes meet the collector there is only 4-5mm between the chassis rail and exhaust. I have some chassis rust in this area where the protective coating has failed. I am thinking because the exhaust seems unusually close. I would have thought 15+ mm would be normal. There is no obvious movement with the engine mounts.

[dickythediver]

Hi, I have posted a couple of pictures inside my wheel arch's with suspension removed showing the exhaust. Look at ''suspension rebuild starts'' on the list of topics.

[spend]

Is it the same at both sides (engine sat too low) or more at one side (mount spacer missing or replaced on wrong side)?

You should have @10mm (a little finger) OTOMH.

[ITVRI]

Thanks dickie. I had a look at your pictures. It was hard to tell exactly how much space you have due to the angle. As Spend suggests can anyone else get their finger between the collector and chassis?

[Simon says]

Yep, best described as a little finger clearance both sides (as mentioned already) I only know this as I am very familiar with engine mount replacement now (dont ask) on a couple of cars and you can get a small amount of adjustment in the chassis cradle left to right to get this figure with sound mountings, if you cant this figure then the O/S spacer is missing or the mounts are knackered