By 1965 it could be either a cable shifter or a lever shifter. I'm not really sure if they ever made a cable shifted 904. Anyway cable shifters trans have the cable at the left front corner of the body right above the pan. You should be able to see it by looking under the car.

 

for sure a cable shifted floor shifter. I have a question for you: if i were to get a newer 904, could i somehow unbolt my cables from my 904 and attach it to whichever 904 i end up recieving (so i can use my existing shifter)?

 

it should link up, because the shifter should be cable operated all you will have to do is pull out the pin connecting the shifter to the transmission, and remove the 2 bolts that connect the bracket which holds the cableto the pan area, and then the shifter cable can be removed, and putting it on the new trans is simply the reverse, but be sure that your cable is adjusted so both the shifter and trans are in the same gear, hope this works, you can look under the car and determain if this is the case for your car without too much effort

 

Thanks, i'll be checking that out. Tomorrow is Transmission Day! i'm just going to replace the front seal for now as a bandaid and continue my search.