So you managed to find all those threads saying that dougs headers are the best thing since sliced bread without also finding almost as many threads telling you that there will be som customization to make them work with a 4 speed?
i do agree that dougs should put the information in their installation instructions.
So you are complaining that your starter actualy fits but is hard to change?
Did you try moving the engine around some in the enginemounts? are your mounts fresh? There is room for movement in the stock mounts and even shims available to correct things alitle when needed,and as has been pointed out many times in this forum,these cars are all over the map regarding tolerances and sometimes they stack up on the bad side other times for the worse,did you actualy try that before starting to beat on them and after that,did you try to call Dougs and see if they might send out a replacement header if it was a problem in manufacturing that happens from time to time before beating on them?