3rd tragedy... 3 in a row !!

That same evening, Jessie and I wanted to get ride in the Mini for dinner. I started the car, warmed it up a bit and reverse it out from the porch. It took a few reverse and 1st gears to aligned the car towards the gate. Somehow, the gear stick is kinda jammy and the throttle is not so smooth too... 

I was kinda impatient, and i started to jerk the gear stick and pulling it very hard to get it into reverse gear. (Note : To engage Mini's reverse gear, you have to PULL UP and then push it to the right and downwards) ... and with my Monstrous strength, I think I over did it..

I PULLED THE WHOLE GEAR STICK OUT !!!!

OPPS !!! The gear stick came out... 

Took it out in board daylight to take a look at the problem.. seems like the little 'cap' in the middle is cracked.

A close up picture of the 'cap'. It is a half-sphere shaped plastic. And it was serviced before previously. They added a rubber piece to make sure the cap stays in shape.. hmm, I will service this again later. Must find some metal sheet to mold it into a 'cap'

Anyway, the installation is kinda easy..  Remove the bracket that holds the 'cap' in place, put in the gear stick and install the bracket again from the top. (Note : Gear knob have to be removed to do so)

The installation was easy.. Just that it is kinda messy with all the grease around.. and it was getting late.

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I will cover this part again when I find the suitable material to mold into the 'cap'.. or when I find the spare part for this.