you are right about the shift plate coming off easily there is another plate in front which you would have to unbolt tranny from the bell housing becuase their are 2 bolts that you cant get a wrench or a socket and that would require pulling off the skid plate drive lines and all that good stuff
Tranny is on workbench, shifter plate is off, other plate is un bolted but cannot come off because of shift rod that goes through it. Is there a way to remove this or do I need to split apart the tranny at this location?