To re-vist the topic and in fashon with keeping everyone up to speed. I previously stated that I was going to go with a forward control design similar to this:

this will require a moderate amount of fabrication and some welding. Upon futher contemplation and review, I have decided to go with something like these:

this will require no welding, and minimal fabrication. Basically just extension brackets that move all your existing junk forward. Once I have the templates cut, I will offer paper copies to anyone interested for the price of a SASE. That way you get paper and can transfer them over to metal. I should be able to button these up over the weekend.
Cheers