1986 ranger efi 5.0 steering shaft clearance issue

[TFC-4]

my 86 ranger is just about done, but i have an issue with the steering column intermediate shaft hitting the exhaust manifold when turning right, can i see pictures of anyones set up? either going to build a custom header for it or a custom steering shaft but i'd almost rather so a custom header so i dont risk going to thin on the shaft and having it fail on me... my truck is 4wd, has an efi 5.0 and its an extremely tight fit in the bay, it cant move any further away from the shaft then it already is

 

[Shran]

What exhaust manifolds are you using? My steering shaft is miles away from the exhaust and anything else for that matter... however... I am using mid-late 70's 302 manifolds (they came from an Early Bronco but I don't think that matters, same as truck manifolds as far as I know.)

I tried the other ones I had which were from an 89 Crown Vic and they would not fit on either side.

The only bummer about the older manifolds is that they don't have O2 sensor bungs, but you can get weld in ones and put them in your exhaust pipe, if you even care to run them at all.