just fitted a set of hitech extractors to my 1200 ute (a12-78 model) and found that theres only a bees dick gap between the engine and on the oposite side also about 1mm between them and the steering arm. is this the case with anyone elses.

not 100% sure but you may be able to get more clearance by fitting 120Y steering arms, they are bent in a dogleg shape and may give you the extra clearance

No thats just Hitech headers there really S^^t.

I know mine hit the bellhousing

i've got em on my A12, being an early block i had some issues with the engine mount that needed a little relieving with the angle grinder, they do sit close to the bell housing but don't touch it. apart from that they're doing the job fine

yeah they are quite close to the idler arm, i was quite skeptical when fitting mine but i have different mounts for my engine so the engine sits a bout 2 - 3mm to the left more which is good.
Get the grinder out or yeah replace the idler with a later model sunny/120y ones.

Dave