The shifter is part of the column cover,not the shaft.I just did a four speed conversion on a Falcon that originally had a three speed,used a column cover from a 4-speed 65 Comet.An engineer once said that if you are worried about being speared by the column,quit driving!!!If you get hit hard enough to drive the entire front end,clear back to the firewall,back into the drivers compartment,you probably died from a multitude of issues!!!!A column can only collapse so far,usually about 1-2 inches!! JMO,ROY.