Is there a safe way to get the ****ers to engage into forward when they are pushed to the 45 degree angle instead of all the way In other words, the shifters need to engage at the halfway point from what they are used to.

Are we talking about transmissions or outdrives?

Transmissions/crashboxes not throttles.

You either shorten the link point on the trannie or lengthen the arm on the shifter.

It sounds like you have a tight confinement around your shift levers. Can you get away with forward or reverse canted shift levers?