[Mr.Fixit]

I guess since my legs are too long, I always sit with the seat all the way back so the shifter ends up being in a comfy spot, without the handle. Heck, maybe your motor is just set back further.

All the shifter handle does on a tremec is slide the centre shaft (which is visable under the gold covers) forward and backwards, and rotates it slightly to the left/ right. If you can relocate the cup which the shifter ball sits in, onto the shaft under the middle cover instead of the rear cover, then just get the new cover plates so you can bolt the shifter assembly onto the middle plate. I don't get into the guts on trannies, so moving the "cup" is probubly the hard part, buying new cover plates is easy but not free.