After screwing around with a wide variety of GM shifters, and being too damn cheap to buy a mega-dollar aftermarket shifter, I figured that there had to be a way to use the stock shifter to control the 4L60E.
I used a tape measure to determine the amount of movement (throw) in the cable at the shifter end by manually shifting the tranny linkage. This gave a starting point for determining the P-R positions. Once this was done I cut off the tab from the shifter that holds the pin for the stock shifter cable with a Dremel. I then tack welded it onto the shifter to allow for the proper amount of cable extension when shifting from P to R.
Next I addressed the stops cut into the shifter, obviously they would not match the new tranny/cable. after securing the shifter and connecting the cable I cycled the shifter through all the gears and marked where the locking pawl stopped. I'll clean this up and create new stops for each position with my Dremel and small welds as needed.
Different gear position.
I knew that the 1st gear position would require increased rear travel so I removed the rear stop by cutting away a little metal at a time so the shifter would have the correct amount of travel.
As you can see the bend in the shifter will have to be straightened out a pinch so that it doesn't contact the console. I can't straighten it too much or it will hit the HVAC controls. For future reference, an earlier model shifter might be a better choice since it is not bent as severely.
Although the gear position indicator doesn't line up with the new positions (I'll work on that later), I'm actually pretty impressed with the results. Shifting is as smooth as silk.
. Maybe after/during college. I can't wait to see what kind of cool toys I am going to find up at PSU 
