Hey majortom...That picture is deceiving because I took the picture a little from the left. If you look at the one on the right you'll see that there's no room between the mount and the muffler to the left either. Even if I go that way the rod will still have to be bent and will still touch the muffler. By the way...how do you plug your holes in the firewall? I might have to do that as well. It's hard for me because I'm very new to this. I don't even understand some of the terms in people's suggestions to me. One way that might be easier is to stick something to the muffler that doesn't carry the heat over to the rod.