update on apparent pressure plate failure- it is not pressure plate.

Sigh. Loaned out the 84 F-150 to a neighbor while I was out of town and came back to find it had been towed home. "It just started making noise when I put it in any gear" was the information relayed to me. The friction parts have under 5,000 miles on them- and the clutch looks very worn- not very evenly worn on the release bearing side- which to me would indicate someone driving with their foot on the clutch pedal- but I could be wrong. As it sounded like the hounds of hell were in the gearbox- I suspect something is broken in there or simply worn out. I have not been able to release the shifter cane yet (I don't want to break it)- but I hopefully will have some tips on how to do that tomorrow. Have not found the plate yet under all the dried mud- but I think this is a Tremec T170, so I know I can remove the top with the unit in 2nd gear and inspect it. For now- I need to get the cane off first so I can slide it out from under the truck. Anyone have a tip for removing the shifter cane without damage?

Here are some photos- sorry for the quality, the camera (like me) was having a bit of sun stroke today.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cqXTHo7Fhy-pZW_xUwx3xB1TLjUtqTwi?usp=sharing

I couldn't figure it out either, but I was in a hurry to get mine out, so I just pulled the top cover off with it when I dropped the trans.  Swapped it for a T18, so I still don't know how that sucker comes off.  

Yeah, that throwout bearing and flywheel look pretty rough for 5k mi...  😳

Afraid I can't help you with removing the shifter from a T170. I've never been inside of one.

Sorry for your loss!  🥺

My shifter just slides right out, odd feeling driving down the street with the rod in you hand not being able to shift up or down. At 9 and 3 o'clock position below the boot, there is two plastic tabs that you depress in, without a lot of force, the plastics are brittle and I am not sure you can buy them.
I am just in the process of hunting the parts down.  
Here is a breakdown of the shifter rod assembly.

Correction:
Part number 7210 should be removed as an assembly by removing the gear shift housing cap.
I have searched for: 7227,7228, 7k355,7R396 and 7EO97 all the numbers with the black dot.
It would seem they are integral to the gear shift lever.
Unless a more experienced member has input?
 

Thanks for the input- ends up easy to pull once 7220 is removed the assembly lifts out.