Eddie,
You should put it back on. Unless you have a floor shifter and drive by shifting manually thru the gears you will appreciate the automatic drop into lower gears when you stomp it to the floor. You will need to get the cable and you must still have the bracket on the engine and the ball on the carb to attach the cable. The bracket will be mounted towards the rear of the engine, usually on the intake and have a square cutout in it. The brackets can be found both at swap meets and in reproduction. The ball is available as aftermarket. The cable is held in at the trans with a single screw.
I just went thru the same thing myself except that I was the one who cut the cable and removed the brackets 20 plus years ago.
If you need a source for the ball, let me know.
Dan Solomon
http://www.freewebs.com/chevelles1970/
