Changing gears

I'm never to old to learn, it just really burns my britches when what I am learning was right under my nose....and in my haste and arrogance I ignored a seemingly simple yet creative solution.
Allow me to explain. A couple of weeks ago my friend Trevor ( Good Friends, good times) came out to get my hot tub. The two of us wrestled with that damn thing for 3 hours trying to get it up onto a trailer that ended up being too small. A week later another friend of mine(Jeff) was moving. Having done the lions share of transferring the household belongings to the new digs he was left with a couple of big ticket items.....a piano....and a hot tub! UUUUUUUUGGGGGHhhh!
But I threw caution (for my back) to the wind and showed up to help move the big behemoths. Much to my surprise and my shame Jeff was way more prepared and organized than I was. First off he had 6 guys, second he had this awesome moving cart...a simple 3 foot by 5 foot platform with big pneumatic wheels. We simple hefted the tub on an edge, shoved the cart underneath and then wheeled it up on his trailer.
My heart sank....
I knew I had the frame at home...and the tires...just not together.......sigh.....lesson learned.

First thing Friday morning, I sandblasted and painted the old engine cradle frame, mounted the wheels and topped it off with 3/4" Plywood. I can't wait to move that #@##** hot tub again!!

Now onto something more bus related. I don't like the shifter position relative to the seat. When seated it's fine, but if you want to set it in park and then get up out of the seat you have to dance around the stick. Biggest issue is there is a very high risk of bumping the stick into gear. I found some old linkage pieces from the original set up for the clutch assembly I think...

Cut, sandblasted, drilled, and tapped...

Voila....a new shifter linkage!

Good news is that it will allow me to keep the original shifter in the same spot, as it would be a nightmare to move it now.

Bad news is that the linkage lever arm is too short, not giving enough travel. I could move the linkage arm on the lever but I don't want it to be too tall.....

Back to the drawing board.