On the way home from picking up my new used 1986 Vanagon, I almost completely lost access to 1st gear.  I found it way over on the left side of the shift pattern, almost the same as reverse without pushing down on the shift lever.  Second gear was also hard to find, floating around over on the left.

Looking at the shift components I found a lot of play in the ball and cup, 1/4' to 1/2", and I'd guess the ball might have broken off a piece since the shifting was working ok the previous day.

I've seen a shift lever/ball on eBay(a bit high priced), and Go-Westy has one that they have manufactured(but are currently out of).  I'd like to ask for advice on where to get a good quality and good priced shift lever with ball, and the cup elbow that the ball fits into, in case I also need that.

And are there any DIY tricks for fixing the ball part, temporary or permanent.

John