b275 replacement steering box doesn't fit

Hi, glad to be here! been a lurker for years, and always found the info I needed in the past, but that isn't the case right now.
I'm working on a 1961 B275, and the steering box is worn out. I researched for hours trying to find a replacement box, and settled on the one I see wherever I look, which is the one with the adjustment screw on the side, the fill plug on top, and a bolt on flange between the box and the column.(the original is one piece, has a fill plug on the side, and has no slack adjustment)
The new part also has basically a double low ratio, taking twice as many turns to go from one side to the other, which is great since the 84yr old guy who owns it would be able to steer it better.
The problem is, that when I try to put the fuel tank back down, it hits these bolts between the column and the box, and also hits on the vertically mounted fill plug. The tank needs to go down another 2 inches. Every steering assembly I see looks the same as the one that doesn't fit, although these fit multiple models, and the bottom of the tank looks the same as others on the same model, so I'm ruling out that it had been changed, and the tube size might be off. Any help would be appreciated here in WV. Even buying a good stock box, although it would be the same hard to steer kind. (good thing he has no loader)
 
Maybe replace the bolt with a socket head cap screw. (even counterboring the box to allow clearance) the plug could also be changed to a socket head device. Jim
 
(quoted from post at 07:04:57 11/13/14) Maybe replace the bolt with a socket head cap screw. (even counterboring the box to allow clearance) the plug could also be changed to a socket head device. Jim

I thought about that, but the tank is sitting about 2 inches up from where I need to bolt it back down, and shorter/recessed heads and fill plugs won't free up enough space. The casting on the revamped box is in the way of the tank as well, and machining it down won't help much. I just don't see how anyone else doesn't have this problem. Surely someone here has put one of these boxes on a b275? Should I see a Mahindra dealer? I wonder if the fuel tanks are different on the bottom of other models- more open, or having a larger tube through them.
 

Hard to dent the bottom- with that tube welded thru it, the thing is really rigid. Wonder if a different tank might have better clearance on the bottom. This box is supposed to fit the b250, b275, and b414 tractors. The casting ear around the fill plug opens up inside right below the threads, and if I ground it off, I would need to machine and tap it out larger.
 
I went to the Mahindra dealer in Mineral Wells, WV, and they told me to take pics and send them to "the old guys in Houston", who are familiar with antiquated implements. They might have some insight.
 
Crazycraig5150 did you find anything out with the fuel tank / steering box problem? I went to put a new steering box in my b250 today and had the same problem! Any help would be appreciated! Thanks
 

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