Sorry Scott, I should not have referred to it as dumb. I did not mean to insult. Heating the firewall cherry red seems remarkably dangerous to me.
But it is possible to cut the steering shaft and install a U-joint. That is what I was getting at.
I saw someone with an AD truck that installed the steering box on the outside of the frame rail, in the wheel well, and did exactly what I said, cut the steering shaft and added a u-joint. Then he made a longer steering shaft from the u-joint to the steering box. I think he had to use the steering linkage from a 60's Chevy pick up truck though, with the box that far away.
If you were the person who moved the steering box over an inch and a half, do you have any pictures illustrating how it currently looks, so that I can see what you mean by shimming the box over?
