Hi Buckster, figured I weigh in here with some for what it’s worth stuff.

I do have a few questions for you. The reason I ask is to get a feel for what you are capable of and what you will probably have to farm out. You mention you’re on a budget (isn’t everybody )

What is your skill level and experience? Basically have you done anything like this before, or do you have good mechanical skills. Do you have a good selection of tools? Do you have an engine hoist or access to one for an extended period of time? Do you have any welding skills and equipment? Do you have a decent place to work……depending on which way you go with the project, it may have to sit for extended periods of time in an unmovable state. If you do a front clip swap, it will be almost mandatory to have a smooth, level place to work to get the proper measurements before grafting on the front clip.

Do you already have the 350 and transmission? If you do and you are locked into the swap so be it, if not don’t discount using another brand of engine.

Finally, how do you know the 350 won’t clear the steering box? I’ve done a few swaps over the years. In this day of the internet, it’s usually pretty easy to look up and see if someone else has done a similar project and get an idea about what you’re getting yourself into. My experience though is that no 2 swaps are identical, especially if it’s a less than common swap. Seeing how someone else has done it before is not necessarily a hard and fast rule about how you are going to do yours, it should rather be more of a guide line. Honestly you really won’t know if it will fit or not until it’s hanging in the engine compartment.

As far as the engine clearing the original steering box, it’s usually an exhaust interference problem, and there are often a lot of different ways to solve the issue. Depending on the situation it could be as simple as raising the engine ½” to as complicated as building a custom header for that side, to modifying a single tube on an existing set of headers, to just using a different exhaust manifold ( and Chevy used a lot of different style manifolds over the years).

I did a BB Chevy into a 52 Ford truck and had years ago and it had a steering box clearance issue. The solution was as simple as getting another passenger side exhaust manifold and mounting it on the drivers side. It gave me the clearance I needed and I just had to build a different head pipe for the exhaust as the drivers side now exited from the front of the engine.

Anyway looking forward to following your build.