Howard, the SCTA requires less than 1/2"of padding on a seat so I'll leave it off and run completely bare aluminum. No flammable upholstery that way either.
I've attached photos of my rear G50 shift linkage. In the system there is a short link to reverse the rod rotation. it is made up of odds & ends, in this case a spherical rod end bearing on one end and a ball bearing on the other.
The rod is 3/4" Thompson Case 60 ground & polished steel running in Thompson polymer bearings. The rod surface is extremely hard, 60 Rockwell C, so it is necessary to grind away a divot to keep set screws from slipping or for drilling a hole for a u-joint bolt. I posted a photo of the divot earlier.
Since I'm still getting my car checked out, I've entered the "150 Club" event in a couple of weeks at Bonneville. In this event, I'm limited to 159.999 mph or I'll be disqualified. If everything feels OK on these runs, I'll enter my class, B/GMS (B/gas modified sports) next year. This car is geared for 209 mph @ 7200 rpm.
Hell, just driving a car on the salt of Bonneville that I designed and built myself is reward enough, whatever its speed.
Like Burt Munro (Anthony Hopkins) said at the end of the movie "The World's Fastest Indian",
"I did it!".