1. Made my own shroud. It seems to work fine.
2. I ground down the steering box a little and then the header at the contact point. I did grind the header too much and went through. I bought the Sanderson hugger headers, but they also would need some modification. So, figuring I had nothing to lose, I decided to weld a patch on the original header that would clear the steering box. I researched the welding of cast iron headers, and is seemed like there are two camps out there. One says it is very complex and the other (fewer it seems) say it isn't a big deal. It appears that the composition of the headers may vary and that is a determinant of how easy it is to weld. So far the patch has held up (I used 14 gauge steel, the Sandersons were 16, so I thought 14 would be OK).
3. I will post pictures shortly. My limited experience is that the truck even steers a bit easier than with the 283. And the engine makes it much more pleasurable (power when you need it with lots of torque - I have 3.38 gearing).
don