Scott, another option is custom headers built to avoid rather than move the obstacles. If you have welding skills, building headers is very doable. It's time consuming to cut and trim all the pieces of tubing for a good fit before welding but well within the range of what an amateur can accomplish.
My Stoveolt is a restored '36 Chevy pickup but before I restored it 35 years ago I ran it as a rat rod with a SBC V-8 and truck Hydramatic trans. I made my own headers copying the Doug Thorley "Tri Y" design and then had them flame sprayed with aluminum for rust prevention.
Tight U-bends are available from many sources (muffler shops, Speedway Motors, etc) and they are easily trimmed with snips to get a perfect fit for welding. If you want to go really high class, the headers could be made with stainless steel tubing if you have access to tig welding.
