Any downsides with the oil pan being less than 1/4 inch from the crossover pipe and super heating the oil and any upsides with insulating the oil pan from this issue?
You're fine. Touching is bad, but if there's a gap you've moved from conduction to radiation. Nowhere near as efficient to boil the oil and rub holes in stuff.
And if you lose sleep at night, just ceramic coat the pipes. That actually does work.
