So, hopefully I will not offend anyone moving forward with the next things. I want the rig to look original but be comfortable and a bit more fun to drive with advances that have occurred since 1972. I'm thinking of it as a resto rod.
I converted the rig to power steering (separate post). This makes the rig easy to drive and eliminated the excessive play! While doing this, I replaced the steering column to put in a tilt column and a SS Chevelle style steering wheel. I had troubles with getting the canceling cam to work correct and turn off the signals as well as getting the horn to work correctly but after much frustration, it's done and everything works.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...power+steering
Steering wheel by
Luftwaffepdx, on Flickr