Pulled the universal joint, now steering shaft 1" too short
 

I needed to pull the universal joint off the steering shaft in order to get my downpipe off (rb26dett engine swap). Now here's the weird thing, I go to put everything back together and it seems like the shaft got pushed somehow and it's now about half an inch to an inch shorter. I've tried pulling on it but no luck.

How do I get the shaft to extend back out?

there's two joints

1 at the base of the shaft (near the rack and pinion) and the other I believe is behind the steering column. The metal rod in between them can slide up and down - maybe that's where your missing inch is.

That sounds funny - you're missing an inch! LOL

Anyhow - check the other UJ in the steering column. I bet it moved too.