Are the TTI shorties really my only option?

Might be worth mentioning so everyone understands that the source of your problem and why you need a different header/manifold option is the issue of aftermarket Magnum heads not having enough meat around the exhaust port to seal the early freeflow manifolds. OEM heads seemed to have more than enough meat to seal, but the EQ and MP R/T heads don’t.

Well, that coupled with the power steering and 4 speed set up. Most of the TTI's, Dougs and the Schumachers won't work with the 4 speed, etc. from my reading.

C