V8 swap and steering column

I have been told to use the manifolds from a v8 fbody since they are for tight areas, will these clear the steering column or do you HAVE to buy the $300 brand name shit to make it work, quite a few swaps under my belt just dont want to junk my fbody and piss $200 away on an '84 Ex Cab S-10 for no reason, also 5spd 4wd can you pull the front axles and just run it 2wd and can the torsion bars handle a v8 if 2wd is no do the apdtrs for transfer case really work and will they bolt to an automatic(TH350). One last question can you buy matching ratio's for F and R diff's and leave it in 4wd acting as AWD, and if so will this work on most 4x4's. Also putting a '52 chevy 3100 on an s-10 frame and would be cool with AWD. Thanks, be blunt and tell me i'm stupid if thats the case.

Don't know about the V8 swap, but it does sound like realistic info that you have.
Look into this web site for more info
http://hickory.engr.utk.edu/~gpowell/2.html
He did a really nice swap and offers helpfull info
The torsion bars can handle the weight of the V8, but you might have to adjust them a bit.
Your front end should drop about 1" if it has a V6 in now, 2" if it has the 4 banger
You don't need the front drive shaft, but why not use it or just buy a 2wd

With the 52 swap you'll be looking at problems trying to run full time 4wd. Unless you take the transfer case, and front diff from a truck that has it all.
Even then you'll probably have to use all the electronics to make it all work, unless it's old school.
I would recomend a older Jeep Cherokee with full time for this swap over the S-10
Although I'm using a 2wd S10 frame for one of my old cars, and consider it to be the ultimate frame for most classic 2wd swaps

The 82-92 F-body manifolds will work well, I've heard this from many people. The driver side dumps straight down on top of the front diff so your headpipe will have to make a sharp bend but it does work. Make sure they are the log type manifolds-straight across the exhaust ports. I think you can run an AWD transfer case from an Astro van, as for torsion bars they handle the weight fine. Its really only a couple hundred pounds difference. Your stock axle ratios match already. And if you wanna rip out the front diff, just save yourself all the trouble and buy a 2wd.