My brother's shifter is really loose (like a girl I used to know). you cna put it in gear and almost move it a complete circle!!!!! I bought some little tan plastic pieces from a local shop that said it'll fix the promlem (mazda shifter pieces), only thing is that when we took off the center concil we need to take off 4 bolt and there seems to be a gasket. we stopped there (leaving everything intact) just incase there could be something that could get out of alinement. am I just really careful or is it really easy to fix? any help would be cool.

 

You are fine. Just remove the four bolts and pry it up. It may take a little work to break it loose if it's been on there for a while. I usually apply a little RTV around the mating surface when reinstalling.