Valvebody question for the Torqueflite gurus

Dang dude! You don't need to take the valve body apart to replace the throttle shaft seal. Just take the E clip and flat washer off and pop the seal out and a new one in. That does look like the shift detent ball and spring. That spring and ball are for the shift lever detent. Look at the shift rooster comb. The spring applies pressure to force the ball against the rooster comb. Getting it back in isn't easy. You have to put the spring in first then the ball and use a thin wire tie wrapped around the channel the spring goes in to hold it in place. If the detent ball and spring are in place the only other place I can think it might go is the one Bob mentioned. That spring is sometimes a double spring (one spring inside of another) and always has a ball with it on the transfer plate side.