Right on brutha! I love the column shift too. I've always had a things for sleepers.. and nothing hides power like beige and a column shifter LOL. ALso, it's taken alot of head scratching but the factory AC will stay as well.
Yes my goal is April-ish. I gave myself 2 options this winter.. Hemi Swap or paint. Power over Paint! I like to roll my projects out just as the weather breaks, so I plan and pace my projects accordingly. I only work on it over the weekends.. at least this year I have. I don't like dragging things out for years.
Ironically, everthing that I redid or repaired when I first bought this last summer, has been blown back apart and replaced or redone. I really tried to make myself love it as it was.. rebuilt the top end on the 318 with new heads, cam and efi (replaced with 6.4), upgraded to modern ac components (redoing again), new tank and sending unit (replacing with Holley unit), new carpet (pulled up to run battery cabling and electrical), new exhaust (cut off, waiting to modify) and more. I've pretty much revisited it all, one way or another. I kept telling my wife "it's not gonna be a project, it's just gonna be a driver". We both knew that I was lying to both of us. I have a sickness...