[Dave at Pelican Parts]

I guess I missed that this was a side-shift conversion. In that case, you do not want the bracket and bushing in the tunnel. The rod is supposed to move side to side a little bit as it rotates. Restricting that will put the linkage in a (slight) bind.

If you go side-shifter, use all side-shifter parts. The bracket in the tunnel is tail-shifter only.

--DD