Mystery solved. I needed to remove shifter lever to replace with another one that incorporated an overdrive momentary switch. Basically an original lever cut off with a modern unit welded together. The lever has to be in the park position.
To remove original piece the retaining pin is actually two spring loaded pins. Pinch them together and it allows you to pull shifter out slightly. Make sure to catch the flying spring and pins. At that point the shifter feels stuck in the shifter housing on the steering column. You need to rotate the shifter leaver clockwise slightly in order to get the lever dawg to move past the slot in the lever housing. At that point you wiggle it out.  To replace you have to remove the entire steering wheel and turn signal assembly because there is a spring in the shifter column that you need to depress in order to get the lever back into position. There is an opening at the base of the steering hub to access the spring. The lever slides into and out the coupling on the column with some force it's a pretty tight fit.