I said "**** YOU SHIFTER!" and did this to it.
Basically I got out the power tools, ground down and past the weld bead, got some stainless steel bolts (used my calipers to measure it) and got a 10mmx1.5 bolt and a nice sturdy nut and washer to mimic the old setup.
Smeared the nut in blue loctite and tightened it till I was happy with how it moved. Almost no play and feels great! I tried it without loctite just to see if it would hold in place... no.. it backed off from shift movement. With loctite in place? Stayed and is happy as can be.
I figured the head of the bolt would be a problem with clearance. It was not... It cleared on both sides. Looks ugly... but now I don't have massive shifter play and a ring that broke. It had so much fricking play. Cost me a whopping $3 to do it.
I superimposed the other photo on top of it, this is all the play there is, that's it.
Here is pictures of the positioning of the areas you may go "hmmm will it clear all the gears?"
And reverse
