1967 Barracuda column collar question

I had to do this once on a 69 Polara, I had the column out of the car and I still felt like it was a three hand job. Part of the problem I had was it was a column shift car and the shift lever kept moving the collar out of alignment. I think that if you put pressure laterally you might be able to get them to hook as you try to tighten them.

Here you can see the rectangular holes at the end of the column housing.
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Here is the top collar and bolts, as you can see once you put the shift collar on you cannot see the pockets.
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Alan