Edelbrock(and some others I'm sure) makes an adapter that raises the air cleaner up(check hood clearance). I installed and Edelbrock 1406 just the other day on a customers car and had the same problem. Autozone stocked the part.
This air cleaner is offset to avoid even an HEI distributor. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-239432/ I have one and like it.