If I had taken the time to investigate more instead of typing the long post above I would have discovered the issue"...........drum roll"....................... Broken shifter mount! I do think I recall hearing a pop before the grinding and after I started removal of the upper and lower shifter dust boots it was very obvious. I will try to post pictures later if I can get them uploaded to Photobucket. I had thought about upgrading to the ZSpeed solid shifter bracket earlier but I guess this is a good time lol