ya the tail shaft will have one.

 

Yes, but why would you pull the tail housing? You don't need to pull it to drop the trans.

 

Next time do yourself a favor and get a short piece of 1/4"-3/8" rubber hose about 6" long. Slip it over the plug and use it to turn the plug into the head. When it's threaded in, just pull the hose and tighten the plug.
And for those pesky plugs find an old motorcycle spark plug wrench that's stamped steel. Cut it off so it's only got about an inch of the socket, and then weld a little round bar stock to the side. Bend the bar to an angle that works. It will easily slip over in any tight places and run the pug in or out.
Or get a BBC and have easy access to all the plugs!

 

I need to take the tail shaft off because it needs to go on the new tranny. The one i bought is from a 2wd suburban and has a long tail shaft.

 

Ehhhhh...that's not going to work. A shorter tail housing isn't going to change the fact that the output shaft of the trans is still too long.

 

You'll have to change the housing and the output shaft together.

 

Is that an easy thing to do? I assume its not. And how would I do this? Seeing as i know jack about transmissions.

 

You would have to disassemble the entire trans. The output shaft is literally the first part to go in the case, and the last to come out.

 

It's easier to shorten the driveline than to change the shaft. Are you sure your present trans is a short shaft?

 

Looks like you will be rebuilding your trans now. Sell the other trans to offset cost of rebuild.