This is my second time around with the tranny hump and shifter tower... built it once, too boxy... Tried turning a '41 column to automatic...works great... but... bummer man... too long for my A's cowl... would have to dump my '40 dash [ouch] and then shorten the column in 2 places... Took the scrap tube from the shortened '32 throttle assembly, offset welded it to a chunk of 1/8" plate... this gave me a flat surface to clamp the steel to before bending the steel strips over the tubing...
Then I clamped the 1/8" plate in the vise, then clamped the 2" strips to it with squeeze a clamp... the 20 ga. steel bent easily around the tube [careful, it bends so easily that it doesn't stay flush with the tube as you go]. In retrospect i would have welded it so it offset to one side but still clamped into the vise... this would give room for a wider strip... I know automatics are not this site's "meow" ...but noticed enough fellow fossils to post this just in case...
Tower tacked into the tranny hump, unpainted panel and the opening in the rear will be trap doors for getting at the shift linkage with a wrench in each hand...
The Jalopy Journal
