Where on the manifold does the exhaust exit? There is a fellow with a Pontiac engine in a truck that installed the manifolds on the opposite sides so the outlets dropped out the front, not the rear. His pipes then ran under the front crossmember but away from all steering. Maybe you could find a manifold with a different outlet location and do something similar. Moving the steering box would be a challenge, you don't want to get into drag link angles or length problems.
