GHQ Forklift Project is Progressing

I have made some progress on my half dozen GHQ forklift kits.  Although I painted them all yellow, I plan to make variations within the set so they aren't all the same.  I am seeing a lot of typical forklifts with a yellow body, black roll cage, black mast and forks, and different color rims.  I decided to do white rims on the first.

The kit comes with a seat, steering column, and operator all molded as one piece.  I don't mind having the static operator in a couple of the forklifts, but would also like at least a couple of them to have an empty seat so I can simply "park" them in an appropriate location next to a building for example.  I think I can make a seat easy enough, by using some styrene, painting it black, and fixing it to the body where the original seat would go.  However, I don't know what I could use for a steering column and steering wheel?

This one still needs an operator added.  I'll probably weather these a bit once they are done to give them a used appearance.  The yellow is UP Armor, the mast and roll cage are flat black, the tires are grimy black, and the rims are reefer white.