I've tried to come up with a simple solution but I'm coming up empty. Bending the lever arm wouldn't accomplish much, so I considered a Morse cable. But even if you come up with a functioning design that cable may not even be legal for brakes. I think that getting the linkage out of the way may require sending it through the panel beneath the column, the one with the lap vent. Good news is those panels easy to remove and replace. Bad news is that would mean a redesign of the linkage since it would likely include a new pivot point and/or piece due to the angle of approach being different.