There's a limited amount of lateral displacement a universal joint can accommodate without getting into a bind every 90 degrees of rotation. If you use a "double Cardan" joint with two pivot points instead of one, more displacement can be done, but some pretty creative bracketing and the use of pillow blocks to support the shaft would be required. I have done pre-purchase inspections of horribly expensive "resto-mod" stovebolts with independent front suspension and rack and pinion steering that were absolute deathtraps because of incorrect routing of the steering shaft.
If you're not interested in having a power steering box, you could move the original equipment box ahead of the axle and fabricate an offset steering shaft with U joints without using a direction-reversing gearbox. That would require rotating the steering gear mounting toward the horizontal plane somewhat and re-clocking the Pitman arm a little, and fabricating an adjustable-length drag link.
Jerry
