a whole bundle of questions hopefully sumerized

i have not taken the side plate off lol. im a little scared to lol. i know i need to. can i try re adjusting the linkages then checking lol. i might go ahead and rebuild the trany this summer when i get some time lol. what are the detent balls? i know one at least will clunk. i had to clunk it to get the linkage hooked up lol