Got started on the repair this evening. I was surprised to find out that the gear plate is straight hardwood and not ply. I will upgrade this to a ply material. I also have on hand the sheeting material for the underside. I will have to rebuild the bottom of the former that holds the rear side of the gear block. It seems it may be a bit more time consuming than I first thought, but not a difficult task, even for my limited building skills.