How the F... dose one remove the shift lever off a 904 in the car?

We have a 71 Valiant on jack stands with 727 and dual exhaust... It;'s tight, but we got it tog
You can try to lower the tran by dropping drive shaft and rear trans mount. Usually could drop 3" before dizzy hit fire wall. Creates just enough room to get my hand and tools in there.

Remove the dizzy cap first so you don't break it....