Dave, I actually just got a new bushing from RockAuto that looks way better, believe it or not they carry them. Still have to get under there and put it in, but the zip tie has been working fine for driving around the yard.
I installed a new ignition coil on Friday night when I got home (it was cheap and I figured I might as well). All day Saturday, I tore out the rest of the seats and carpet to find a few more holes, put in some new light bulbs all around, and removed the starter. Yesterday, I thoroughly cleaned out the starter, installed new brushes and a new snap ring and retainer. I got to vacuum out some of the car and bought some sheet metal from the local hardware store. We're hoping to start welding tomorrow before the rain comes. I plan on painting the entire floor with RustBullet auto paint, and I would really like that spare carpet of yours when it's finished, Dave. We can work something out.
The Lokar cable would be nice I'm sure, but all of their products are way out of my price range at the moment. Someday I'd like one of their cable shifters with that sweet shift boot gear indicator, but that's probably like $400-$500 more than I can afford. I did see in another post something about the cable setup off a Dodge Ram van with TorqueFlite trans. Maybe I could look into that first.