Those clips may have almost given me a stroke with my ocd lol, but on a brighter note, my reverse lock out started working again without anything more then removing, holding the lock out and inner bit together, sliding it down, clicking it into the base, and pulling it out as far as the boot would allow, reinstalling the knob and testing, then basically repeating a couple of more times. Got it to work perfectly again in just a few minutes, feels stock, and Luckily I didn't have to take anything apart.
I've got to tell you though, been on the boomba full short throw kit with adapter plate, all bushings, and shift lever for about three days now, and for sure even with all the challenges of the install for me, it was 100% worth it, car feels completely different. If I had to I would do it all over again to have this feel and responsiveness on my drives. Hope the feeling lasts indefinitely.
And having this mod paired with the COBB RMM is just smooth as butter. Think I may have to drive a stock fist in a few months time to remind myself how great my car feels haha. I'm definitely satisfied with the mod even through the frustration of those damn clips, good luck with that, hopefully they (most of them) stay put.