To me it doesnt look like its sticking out to much, but rather its out of place. Snapped a quick photo of a lens i have and it appears that the aperture lever and the guard have to much space between them. I dont know if my vernacular is correct but you will get the idea when you look at the picture.
The entire ring for the upper element can be replaced if you can find the proper one.
Notice on my legacy RMC Tokina glass there is no guard there and it seems the screws are all in the same place
So it would be possible if you had it in you, to grind the guard off....
Just what I would think about, but I refurbish lenses. If it were me I would look for a cheap piece of legacy glass that would have the PK mount on it that you need. Possibly one with fungus and use it for repair parts.