Dodge Dakota exhaust manifolds for a 273

First two pics show my old vs new. I picked up these for $30 on craigs and gave them a few coats of POR manifold paint. They look freshly cast. I have to touch them up every few years, but I love the look and price. So when someone says, slap some $700 TTi headers on it and pick up 20hp and torque, I refuse. Cheap headers are a pain with e-body.

Anyway, last pick shows placement relative to my PS. If you zoom in, you can see a little notch about mid log, adjacent to PS. I probably grinded away about 3/16". I figured if I broke through, I am out $30.