The mechanic who services my car mentioned about the gap but there's no such arrangement with my Dellortos.
Lachy, my C&T manifold is a whisker under 7.5cm (2.9 inches in old money). As shown, the whole arrangement just fits under the standard unmodified bonnet. I have managed to squeeze the Ramair type sponge filters over the trumpets but I found they restrict the airflow too much to the front two cylinders.