Jake,
Just some info about the steering boxes. There are a couple of them. The standard has about 4.2 turns and the quick ratio is about 3.6 turns. Both will work OK, I used the standard one and it worked great. As far as the shaft, I picked up a section of steel tubing 3/4" ID X 1" OD. I mocked everything up then removed the sleeve and drilled and threaded it to clamp each end of the shaft. Then reassembled with 1/4 24 bolts with lock nuts, when everything was determined to be straight and working I took it to a guy to weld it up.
Fred