Made a bracket - tack welded it to the column and bolted it to the metal toeboard to securely hold the bottom of the steering column in place. Cut & formed a piece for the front of the transmission tunnel and tack welded it in (still need to build the center piece). Also started installing an old Ford hand pull emergency brake under the dash to the left of the column. Stuck a reproduction shift knob on to see what it'll look like - got to imagine the dash, steering column and stuff with shiney gloss paint.
The exhaust manifold outlet points straight down where the steering linkage needs to go, so we fabricated an "S" pipe from some mandrel bent tubing to re-route the exhaust (not finish welded yet). Next the whole set-up is "kid tested" so it should hold up OK. :~)
I plan to use an automatic overdrive (700R4) rather than a 3 speed manual transmission. So one of the shifter arms is cut off and the other is heated and bent for the new shift linkage. Lastly a bearing is added to the bottom of the column & a hole in the shifter column rod is tapped and the shift lever pinned so the upper lever no longer moves in the old "H" pattern.
I like the look of the old Ford column, but would also like a more modern steering box for better road manners. So the column gets cut loose from the old steering box.
Needed a way to mount the 1940 steering column to the 1932 dash. A 1940 steering column was a popular hot rod modification in the 1950's because it was the first year Fords came with a column shifter, rather than a floor shifter. Maybe a popular mod also cause it allowed your girlfriend to sit closer. ;~)
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