Should I Thread The Intermediate Steering Shaft Through The Header?

Thanks everyone and for the photo Boopie. It looks like your column is close to 40 degrees but the big difference is the height at the dash. It appears its maybe 1-1 1/2" lower than where mine was in the 3 photos. I'm still amazed at how many times these mods have been accomplished and just how many solutions are out there. I'm going to see if I can lower the column at 40-ish degrees until I can get under the header and still have knee/thigh room. It would be nice to not modify the pedals also. My wife, who's quite pragmatic, said these cars where built for 19 year old soldiers. Why did I expect my old man body to be comfortable in one? I've given up on being able to gracefully enter /exit the thing but I was hoping the driving experience was OK. I'm sure it can be done. I'll post my solution when I settle on one. Here's a couple of the many reasons that I opted for a replacement frame. The others were equally bad, so bad I hope they were field repairs but I'm not too sure. The new frame is fairly unmolested but has a twist on the extremities but that's another problem I've been researching here.

 

I have the same setup exactly. Steeper angle with a GM tilt column (70's Caddy and other models) Very sweet setup and no problem with parts. Mine was wired for all the accessories and the column also has telescoping! I would personally not go through the headers. Not that there will be much engine rock or heat transfer but there will be some.

Edit: GM column has signals, high/low, emergency, tilt, telescoping, horn, locking column, comes in a few different colors (mine is dark tan), Auto tranny selector (mine has a TH350) and seems to have a lower bearing that is very rigid.

I have a UV joint coming off the bottom and it's held up for a long time.