Hey Ben, when you say the piping, you mean the exhaust piping? Also did u see if the grommets were still there when u were underneath the car? Hmmm...in regards to the noise, when i was driving to ur place, there was no noise. It only started after the sway bar was put on...very puzzling . As for the heat, Would heat wrap fix the problem? Or maybe even going back to the exhaust place and have them refit the exhaust a little lower?
piping = exhaust piping yup.
I didnt see if the grommet was there - only need to see underneath or pull your shift boot surround up to find out.
If the noise started after the swaybar install i guess its logical its to do with the install
You can heat wrap the collector area so it dosent transfer the heat to the shift linkage/shifter -