I have a 1989 Dodge Dakota with a 360la with magnum heads. I am trying to run magnum exhaust manifolds. The passenger side is fine but on the drivers side the manifold hits the steering shaft or whatever its called. Specifically the bolt. Is there any thing I could do to fix this. The old style manifold will work, but really wanting to run the magnum manifold. Here is a pic. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[img]http://s300.photobucket.com/user/360Dako...?sort=3&o=0[/img]

There is the pic up above.

you could space the motor mounts to raise your motor up a little

I take it it is not a v-8 dak to start with?

I agree on raising it up some.

I don't remember that bolt being close to the manifold on my 92 5.2 dak

do you have the magnum mounts that bolt in center of the block or maounts up front on the lugs?

In a 89 u could only get a V8 in the Shelby. It was a 4 banger to start out. The motor is a old style 360 with magnum heads. Mounts are up front. Someone told me I could just remove the bolt. But wouldn't that be unsafe etc..? I wouldn't loose a ton of power if I just used the old style manifold on the drivers side would I? I don't know if I could raise the motor up enough to get enough clearance.

I have seen that bolt missing before on daks.

IIRC it keeps the double-D shaft from coming all the way apart but lets it collapse in a crash or for R&R of the u-joint/shaft.

I don't see how it would hurt to remove it if the end yokes are clamped tight on the spline with there bolt.

how would you feel about it is what matters.

I may just remove the bolt then, and maybe grind a little off the manifold. That should work.

Likelyhood is the shaft probably won't come apart even if you wanted it to on an 89. I wouldn't be afraid to loose the bolt. Watch it for a while, it should be easy to see if it moves. I would think a set screw should be enough to keep it from coming apart if it does move. Those pieces have pretty tight clearance.
That said, can you shift the motor towards the right a little to gain the clearance you need? A 1/2" motor shift to the right (slot the motor mount plates?) would make a huge difference on the steering shaft clearance.
Gene

When I done the 360 swap on my first 89 Dakota I pushed the engine and trans back 2.5 inches from the original position of the v6 , gained a bunch of radiator fan room and I used 92 style magnum manifolds and I had plenty of clearance.