Well that wouldn't be the source of my rattle, as the aftermarket headpipe on this car never had those shields in the first place. My rattle seems to come from the plastic trim around the headliner, on the passenger side. My thinking was some resonance from an exhaust vibrating due to improper mounting might travel and cause rattles in unexpected places. I won't be shockedt if fixing the hanger doesn't solve the problem - I just think it's a good place to start. The rattle happens with car stopped, while idling, with auto trans in Drive. Seems more pronounced before car comes up to temperature. Per service records, the dealer replaced the engine mounts within the last 30k. Unsure if transmission mounts are original, but I suspect it would have been done on the same invoice as engine mounts, or not at all. I haven't inspected them.

Good point about rubber and heat. I was thinking that many exhaust hangers utilize rubber, so maybe OK if isolated by a bracket. But come to think of it, I can't think of any car using rubber up that close to the manifold.

Since the parts seem to be available, and the mounting points for it are intact, I'm inclined to go with the factory solution. Unless I get frustrated trying to find the parts... As of right now, I haven't actually tried. Probably should jump on that, though.

Thanks for the insight!

-Wilson