I think I may have a happy ending for this thread. Since I was able to drive the car, I was in no hurry to solve this problem, although I was trying to find a solution I could live with all along. I went to a swap meet and saw a shifter mechanism I thought might work, due to the position of the shifter handle lever (further to the rear than mine). It was out of a Camaro, but looked very close to mine. I tried it on my car, but it wouldn't work. I then took both mechanisms apart, and traded the shifter handle levers. It seems to be functioning OK. The photos show the positions of the handle in reverse and fourth gear.
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