johnparts,
I had a small restoration / streetrod shop back in the 90s and found that everything I bought, whether it was streetrod stuff or repro stuff for a classic, had to be massaged or modified to make it work. I finally got smart and started having my customers provide the parts so I could charge THEM for the extra work instead of having to eat it myself. However, what I did to the AlterK was just a personal preference type of thing, as it truely bolts in and works as designed.
MoparDaddy,
When I first was trying to use my stock K, the drag link was going to rub on the rear sump, steel truck pan I was trying to use. I think Charlies Pans was the only aftermarket pan available at that time, around '04. However, there were so many other clearance / poor fit issues going on that I didn't proceed with the stock K.
I antied up for the AlterKtion, which created all kinds of clearance overall. The rear sump truck pan has tons of clearance from the steering rack, but the sump is pretty low. I designed a custom pan for my car, but I do know a guy who had an inch or so cut out of the bottom of the truck pan and used it.