What you need is the correct shift arm for the transmission. One from either a Passenger transmission (6 or 8) or one from a V8 truck will correct the problem. Swapping the shift arm/shaft is relatively easy, but the side plate does need to be removed to do it.
Edit; The shift shaft and arm are both different. The arm has to be on the matching shaft. I found that out the hard way. You also need to make sure that the shaft comes from the same year transmission. There was a running change in either '56 or '57 that changed how the side cover is made, and the shafts are a different length due to the cover having longer bosses where the shafts go through. The seals are different as well, early uses a lip seal, late uses O rings. If you change the entire side plate, it will be a non issue as the entire side plate assembly is interchangeable.
Last edited by LONGBOX55; 05/24/2016 1:54 AM.
