[blykins]

Well, like you said...I hate to take the tailhousing completely off and send it away when it's just a stinkin little bolt stud...I'll get it out of there one way or another. Can I get it hot enough with a little propane torch? Our acetylene torch is a ways off, and I don't feel like packing the tranny around.

Will there be any ill side effects to getting the tailhousing hot?

Also, I'm gonna post another pic....could you mount the mounting plate with just two bolts? They're vertical of one another, so there's no way the thing could spin around...I'm thinking if it's a brand new shifter and linkage, and everything works freely, there should be no rotational force exerted on that stupid thing anyway.

Thanks for the offer David....I'll keep that in mind as a very last resort.