Having more time to plan and scheme in the cold weather can pay off. All the comments about the length of the nose extension kept gnawing at me, since deep down inside I also thought it was too long. After some gymnastics on the CAD system, I have come up with a way to shorten the nose extension from 10.5" down to 4.5", while still using modified versions of the brackets that I already have made. That's as short as I can make it since other things start crunching together if it gets any shorter.
Existing on left, modified on right.
As it will be installed for the 4.5" extension.
Now I REALLY can't wait for Spring to arrive!!!
Bill the Engineer