dburban,
I used the plate and rubber seal from the 77 that holds the steering column at the firewall, in my 49. Did a bit of modding but it looks and holds great. The problem that I was having with the vertical movement came from the brackets that I made to mount the column on the dash. I drilled new holes about 3/4" from the back lip of the dash right behind where the stock column was mounted. I then used 1/8" plate and made 2 brackets that extended down from these holes and mounted in the stock 77 mounting holes. The back lip of the dash being horizontal is the cause of the vertical play.

I browsed alot of pictures of members trucks and say alot of ideas. Because the 77 column shifter cover extended right under the stock mounting holes on the 49 I was trying to see if anyone has removed any part of the cover. That way I would be able to make a mounting bracket that will go right where the stock one is.

I went ahead and checked a few things and cut away 3 1/2" of the bottom of the shifter cover with my zip cut. Worked out perfect. Now I am going to see how if I can drill a couple holes then tap them so I can bolt the column to a new bracket and in the same place as the stock one would go. That should fix the vertical movement for sure.

Ken