I've just replaced my son's '83 244 Turbo's exhaust system ... header/cat/all pipes and muffler. I thought we would resolve a clearence problem the old pipes had but the end of the header/cat pipe is still banging against the underside of the transmission cross support. The tranny in this is an AW71 auto ... and the cross support has two aluminun spacer blocks on either end where it bolts to the frame. Are those spacers critically important? An easy fix would be to remove them and bolt the support directily to the frame. This would raise the cross member and give us plenty of clearence for the pipe as it passes under the support. The spacers must be there for a reason. So what might that be? And could I get away with removing them? Pardon my ignorance on this matter as this is the only auto box 240 I've ever owned. And the only 240 I've seen with these cross member spacers. Any tips on resolving this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

T-bone