[THEFERMANATOR]

The rod from the V-6 should work. Sounds to me like you have the shift rod threaded in to deep, and it is bottoming and preventing it from fully engaging forward. Thread the rod all the way in until it stops with it in neutral. Then thread it out roughly 2 full turns. Measure from the mating surface to the center of the shift rod bolt hole that connects to the shift linkage. You should have 21 15/16" of distance center of bolt hole to the mating surface. Sounds like your measuring to the top of the rod and so you would be about 2-3 turns to far in.

Another method that I have used in a pinch with virtually no tools available to me is to thread the shift rod all the way in and push downward on the shift rod into forward gear. Thread the shift rod out until you feel it go all the way down and the shift rod isn't bottoming out. Turn the rod outward until the bend faces forward and install it. This isn't the best method, but will work in a pinch.