That's exactly what happened to me and teh Ebay (suck) shifter I got!

Actually, it has nothing to do with the fact that it's an Ebay shifter. I heard that Skunk2 and B&M short shifters do the same thing. It's the heat shield that gets in the way. And you don't want to remove it either or you'll melt your shifter bushings and grease.

Forget the short shifter and go with urethane shifter bushings, feels great. If you're doing it to improve your times, then you'll probably need to upgrade your cat-back anyways.

Or, lower your exhaust at the hangers.