4l85 shift lever question

[Motown 454]

I have a 97 and newer 4l85, it has the long shifter arm coming from inside the trans that the shift lever connects to. Can it be changed to the short one without removing the valve body. (Probably not the correct terminology) Any help would will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Craig@Bowler]

In case this is still an issue you're trying to resolve. It is not impossible to do this without removing the valve body, but we definitely don't advise leaving the valve body in. If you are really confident in your abilities, you can bend the separator plate out of the way to remove the "nail" that holds the selector shaft in place to exchange them. Once the new one is in place you can then bend it back. But I will stress again, we advise against this method.

[Motown 454]

Thanks Craig, If you wouldn't do it with your experiance I definitely wouldn't try it. We made an off set lever, it looks like it will work.
Thanks again.

[Craig@Bowler]

No problem Wayne. Yeah, it's definitely one of those procedures we would be ok with doing in our own personal car, but never anything going to a customer.