318 exhaust manifolds on a 360

Here's one of the things I wanted to try. I know many members already know everything I'm about to say but this is for those who haven't heard it. I cut a block of wood and made it the same thickness as a magnum manifold. I placed it the space that the magnum manifold would occupy in my Barracuda engine bay (up against the manifold gasket on the head). My car has P/S with floor shift console. In the pic of my driver's side engine area you see the same block of wood up against one of the P/S lines, but just below that you can see that the P/S unit itself sticks out much further towards the engine and this is where the mag manifold would need to be. In the same pic you can also see the other P/S line (more toward the firewall) which is also closer to the engine than the line nearest the piece of wood. Although the mag manifold might clear the P/S unit (below the piece of wood) I seriously doubt it would clear the P/S fitting that is closer to the firewall. There is just about no way this mag manifold will fit with my configuration. Every mag manifold I've seen has the same thickness.
As luck would have it a mechanic friend of mine is currently working on a 68 Barracuda with manual steering and column shifter. I'm headed over there with the same piece of wood to see the difference between P/S and manual steering and column VS console shift.


PS - I see driver's side 340 manifolds becoming harder and to find!!!
treblig