Confession time; the strategy of 'it will turn up eventually' didn't work.
Anyone got the tension spring (essentially its about 1/2" x 2" leaf spring) going spare and prepared to post it to the UK in exchange for something I can source for you - a tee shirt maybe?
Some time ago I stripped a 3/4" Borgeson DD sliding steering column and messed with it. I fired the bits into the 'might come in handy' bin (I thought) and pulled them out today to use for the forth iteration of my gear shift - the cardan shaft experiment worked but didn't have enough engagement length and got bound up occasionally. The tensioner spring is absent.
The DD works well but has a little bit of slop without the spring thing. It contributes the last vestige of a vague shift - better UJ's and rod location cured the rest.
I went this route because a) not much room in the cockpit and b) I only need about 3/4" total linear travel and a few degrees of rotational to go through the 6 speed; in the donor car the box was in the transmission tunnel by your leg, now its 4 feet behind me.
My supplier told me the Borgeson parts are not available individually as pulling it apart voids the warranty so you do not need the bits individually.
