Couple of comments from me.

First, it seems that your neutral safety switch is not adjusted correctly. If it was you would only be able to crank the starter when in Park or Neutral. I had this same problem until I adjusted this switch.

Second, since you have used the adapter so that you can run the aftermarket skull shift knob; is the cable still functionable to allow you to have to push down on the shift knob in order to go from PARK to REVERSE. This is important with the Lokar shifter.

There is also a large nut at the shift lever pivot point, that when tightened up increases the friction against a plastic washer. This would then require additional force to be applied when moving the shift lever. It is to prevent the shift lever from just moving the linkage into another gear from vibration, bumps and its own weight. Tighter is better.

I have used both the Lokar and the Gennie shifters with long shift levers. The adjustments mentioned above are true for both brands. The Gennie shifter enables the use of many different shift knobs easily. Instead of having to push down on the knob to shift out of Park or into Low, the Gennie shifter must be moved to the side slightly and then up or down to the next position.

The Neutral switch adjustment is very critical to prevent startup in gear.