Fireman: I have a 1948 Chevy 3100 and grafted a salvage yard mid 70's GM column to it. Anything you do will require some creative engineering. But I'd thought I'd address your intent to still use the key on the dash: I have my column mounted ignition switch wired in series to the dash switch, giving me a kind of added amount of security. I therefore use two ignition keys in my two ignition switches, each key is different.
