After collecting all the bushings and a set of the coupler-whisper bushing, yesterday I started on the job.
The first thing I ran into was that the center console was much more difficult than one would imagine, because the screws were handy enough, but the act of lifting off the console was made very difficult by the wires of the A/C, which didn't leave much room for moving things around. The emergency brake handle seemed to add to the problem. Finally got if off without ripping any wires loose.
Next oddity, everything I read described the the carrier bearing bracket as being attached to the center console tunnel. But my 84 had it attached to the shift tower, and so I couldn't pull that tower loose until I undid those bolts. I am wondering how easy those will be to get back together once new bushings are in.
After that it was fairly straight forward. Working the allen wrench in the small tunnel area was a pain, I can see a need for a set of allens that fit in a ratchet wrench.
The coupler back aft there, came apart easy enough. As per advice I marked the shaft where the met the clamp to keep track of the alignment. I used a felt pen which proved worthless because my coupler had grease all over it and the pen just wiped off in the process of removing it. It needs realigning anyway so I'll see how that goes.
So finally I had all the bushings out and ready to be replaced. What do you think? Were they ready for replacement? I particularly like the soda can shims that were made for the coupler.
I'll let you know how it goes back together. I have great hope for the new improved shifting, because mine was pretty bad.