It is way too close...less than a finger's width on the right side. There is no room for rotational clearance on that side, so heat shield over there without cutting the cowl is pointless.TomNativeNewYorker wrote:I dont think airflow and cooling would be the only problem.
The picture isnt very clear, but exactly how much space is between the pipe and the cowling?
From the pic, it looks very close if it isnt touching. If you left something like that alone or put some sort of heat shield, you most likely are going to have chaffing and fretting damage.