There were lots more internet searches, measurements, and disassembly over the past two days. One of my goals is to have the option to put in an original heater into the heater space, so keeping that area free has been a goal. In keeping with that, I decided to remove the power switch and put it in the spot where the vacuum hub switch was located (Just to the right of the driver’s seat). Meanwhile, the hub vacuum switch is removed and sitting temporarily on the engine; it will eventually go near the transfercase shifter to make it clear they work together.

Here’s where the switches were originally located:

Here’s another diagram. Here I have test-installed the switch, which fills the hole left by the vacuum switch, but sits lower than the vacuum switch. Meanwhile, I’ve mocked up how the transfercase lever should look once it is installed, with an arrow showing approximately where the vacuum switch will land next to the shifter.

Moving the power switch shortens the run from the battery and starter to the switch, it also cleans up the area behind the grille. In addition, when looking through the grill from the front you could see the wiring crossing the tunnel to the bottom of the switch.

Yesterday, I spent time staring up at the tunnel area from the ground, measuring tape in hand, pondering and plotting. I discovered that the water pump fan, used in this case to cool the transmission cooler, will not allow any of the after-market transfercase shifters to fit. Given the fan doesn’t really align all that well with the cooler anyway, I have decided to get a transmission cooler-electric fan combo. I can position in under the tunnel in a way that is more flexible.

So, things seem to be coming together. I still want to find a place for the extra gauges and am pondering a 4-in-1 gauges which will be a more compact and less obtrusive option, but haven’t found one that satisfies the specs.

The weather over the weekend was beautiful, so progress was made on all fronts, from the first mow of the year, to spraying the fence line, to dragging the pasture, to building the “grow” op. Because of all that, the FC progress was a little slower, especially as I went round and round on an accelerator solution.

I created a couple gas pedal linkage prototypes that didn’t work like I’d hoped, so back to the internet I went. Finally, I landed upon a late-1960s VW bus linkage from the British company Butty Bits that gave me a clear path forward. Below is one example. I discovered I have room under the cab to construct something similar to what I show below.

This pic of the linkage comes from the Heritage parts center. The top of the linkage bolts to a pedal, then travels through the floor to a lever that rotates counter clockwise as the pedal is pushed down. I plan to build and test something later today with some small Heim joints I already have.

I also had a chance to modify the stock FC support bracket so that it will hold a 2″ column. Here I’m testing together the column, the brake setup, and the dash. It’s all fitting together (whew). I also experimented with my flip-up fuse-box idea, which will go on under the left of the dash. The idea is to have fuse box that can rotate down when needed, but otherwise remain mostly hidden (no pics of that just yet). We’ll see how that idea plays out ….

Among the other spring side projects was this “grow” operation in the master bath, built from leftover steel for max functionality and minimum beauty. Ann wanted a green house, so we build a mini-version atop the whirlpool tub we never use (we plan to turn this area into a larger shower at some point). Ann has grown these plants (beets, peppers, spinach and others) from seeds from last year’s plants.

Finally, yesterday my son reminded me that March Madness had started. It’s the first time I’ve tried to watch it without cable or dish TV (we don’t get cable and cut the dish last fall).

It turns out, Youtube TV has got this figured out! There was an automatic four-panel setup on Youtube TVs Home Screen showing each of the channels’ games. Not all of our cord cutting has been a great experience, but this feature was really useful and easy to use.