727TF Floor shifter linkage issues

[Scooter]

Went to pull into my garage this afternoon (74 Challenger-360-727TF floor shifter) and the shifter was floating free. Crawled under to find the cotter pin on top of this linkage rod was missing, the linkage rod was just hanging there.




Had a helluva time just getting 1/2 of the cotter pin through the hole as the rod and that flat part it goes through do not line up. You can see the small air gap between the adjuster and the flat part it goes through. The stress of the misaligned moving parts probably contributed to that bushing at the left in the photo going to pieces. Is this a common issue? Is there anything to be done other than bend one of the pieces to get them to line up properly? 

-Scoot