A wholehearted and sincere thank you to BNG for posting that pdf file. Very
VERY informative!!! Also thanks to Carson79 for the update as well. My shifter is still working OK, no problems. I can live it being slightly looser at the moment. Might consider DSD shifter plates in the future but for right now I'm satisfied with the default plate.
One kind if shifter plate that I
*would* buy right away however, is one that had some sort of mechanism between the gates themselves, that would deliver some resistance to the shaft of the shifter in between gears. In other words, something on the plate that would sort of "squeeze" the shaft briefly as it travels through the gate, and then "let it go" right before it locks into gear.
That would be my kind of shifter plate