lower shift lever removal

[purple gas]

OK. So in my typical fashion I got my van tilt all tightend up so it works like dandy. Sanded & painted it all up spiffy like. Now I have to put on the rubber gromety type things on so it fits in me truck like it was meant to be there, like I shoulda done earlier in this process. In a previous thread on the same subject someone mentioned they just bent over the lower shift arm lever deal and slid the pieces over, then bent it back into shape. Sounds kinda cheesy and hacky and would fit my M.O. perfectly. BUT before I prove to the world that I was reared on a farm where a crescent wrench and 6 feet of wire was all the tool kit anyone really needs I thought I'd ask. Can the lower bearing be removed and the shift tube be pulled out without dissasembling the top of the column?