I mounted the engine as low as I could. I have about an inch of clearance between the headers and the frame. I went to a borgenson U joint to replace the rag, but it is still too close to the headers. With the engine in place now the pan is within a half an inch of where the bottom of the IH pan was. I am going to scab a brace on the outside of the frame, that will strengthen a weak area, and move the steering joint away from the headers. I am worried the engine will rock more than the inch I have between the headers and frame, so I am going to raise the engine another inch which will give me more clearance.
I have my 241 clocked almost straight sideways. It is right up against the side of the frame, so there is no room for a pipe down the right side of the truck. I am running the right exhaust across the shallow part of the pan and then turning backwards into a collector meeting with the left downpipe. Running a single exhaust the rest of the way, tuning sideways behind the step, and then backwards outside the frame and out the bottom of the right rear quarter.
The collector flanges on the headers are pointing towards each other (or perpendicular to the 90 degree angle of the V of the block) rather than straight down(straight down would mean the flanges would be parallel to the ground) .
Did that sentence above make any sense? I wrote it and I dont think I can understand it.
The bottom line is clearance from the pumpkin is really tight, clearance from the front of the sump and the bottom of the pan is tight, and I had to booty fab the bolt on collecter on the right side header to make things fit. It looks crappy The sandersons come with a offset collecter and it wouldn't work on my right side, I had to buy another pair of standard collectors and use one of them.
These headers aren't a good fit for my setup. Al at MTS has some headers for a caddy in a nova. I would take a long look at those if I was starting over particularly if you plan on running duals down each side of the drivetrain. Being as I think most of you guys are spring over the diff clearance won't be an issue, then the only problem might be clearance between the starter, driveshaft, and pipe. Once again the SOA may take care of that.
There is a pic of my exhaust somewhere on the IH board here, search on my handle. It was in the last few weeks.