77 c6 swap issues

I have a 77 ford 150 ranger. My c4 transmission blew out on me and I decided to go to a c6 transmission. The shifter rod I have is the c4 shifter and it seems to be 1 gear short in range. I looked on summit and the one they had was a straight bar rod but the one I have has bends in it. Is it okay to switch to a straight rod or do I need to look for one that has the bends like the c4 for my c6.