Thanks for that information Jack, will definitely look carefully at those points. As you are in Oz where do you get your spares from and where is the shift tower repair kit from?
When you inspect the top mounted gear shift, you may find that the cross pin though the ball in the shift lever has flat spots worn on it instead of being round it is about 8mm diameter, the shift retainer housing that bolts to the top of the gearbox also wears in the corresponding mating point. There is new shift tower repair parts that replace the part with a bronze bushing / fitting. A new pin will also need to be made to suit.
Autopartsobsolete.com has 4 of the brass castings to fit in the shifter tower, it is a champ items brand no 973. 1937 to 1939 gear shift lever ball socket retainer ring. Ignore the retainer ring part of the description, it fits into tubular retainer assembly after you remove the old worn part.
