The latest on the Roadrunner is that my son still has it in Des Moines. When he took it to one of the shops down there to have the efi tuned further they couldn't do it because he had an exhaust leak that would have screwed with the O2 sensor. He took it back home and pulled the headers off thinking that the driver's side was so close to the starter that it might have been touching (and held out away from the head). After banging around on it he couldn't get it back on.
I wasn't down there so I'm not sure what's going on other than what he's told me. He said that the header flange seems to be tilted away from the head mounting surface on the bottom.
It's been quite a while since he tore it apart and although I realize that it's common to fight header installation, I'm beginning to wonder if he's bent it wrong. If he doesn't get it eventually I'll have to make the trip there to figure it out.