Yes, there is a larger bushing there, and that is almost certainly the issue. I bought my '60 BN7 that was parked at the owner's summer place in southern Virginia and drove it home to Florida, the worst trip of my life. Yeah, I test drove the car and should have walked away, but I didn't. Typically, I would accelerate out onto the interstate highway on my drive home, go for fifth gear and got third, etc. I should have mentioned that the car has a Toyota five-speed. I first paid a mechanic more the $150 to fix the problem. He simply replaced the bushing you mention at the base of the stick. Eventually, I read up on Toyota gear boxes, a favorite with rock climbers, and visited a supply site. These folks offer what they say is a more durable bushing that installs in the tranny shift tower and supports the upper ball on the shifter. I popped off the top of the shifter tower and found my tranny's bushing was totally absent. A trip to the Toyota dealer and less than $15 for the part fixed the problem. What a great transmission. Before I found the answer, I was quite literally considering replacing the transmission.