Installed the shifter bracket Friday afternoon. I have a late 2012 version MGW (the first version to use the rear mount with street and track bushings), along with an MGW shift ball and jam nut sleeve. I kept the heat shield installed, with holes drilled out for the BR top bracket. I put sections of vacuum hose around the stock rear shifter mount body studs. I also installed the track bushing (I previously used the street bushing). My version of the MGW shifter does not include the additional noise canceling material shown on Ultrakla$$ic's install photos. In very limited driving so far, I am pleased with the noticeably improved shift action. I also find the vibration felt through the shift ball to be insignificantly greater than it was previously. I do have the rattle under throttle, which I find unacceptable.
When installing the bracket, we measured the position of the shifter (from below) prior to disassembly. During assembly, we marked the bracket to indicate the same position of the shifter (seen in one of the photos). This was done with the heat shield installed, but not the rear mount and BR adapter. Once we installed all components and attempted to adjust the height of the assembly, we found that the upper bracket was resistant to moving as far up as necessary to maintain the correct position. We were ultimately able to match the marks on the bracket, but it is obvious that the assembly is a tight fit, and is likely in contact with the body. I feel no vibration in the body, however, only the rattle. It appears that I am positioning the upper bracket higher than some others displayed in this thread. The relevant photo shows the marks where they would be if no additional force were used to line them up correctly. Even in this misaligned position, the assembly seemed to be in full contact with the car. There was certainly no free room to move the bracket up further before contact was made.
I believe Steve is still working on a solution for the rattle. What I have seen (and heard) so far is that If I grip the ball tightly in hand while the rattle occurs, it gets even louder. I wonder if the rattle has to do with the plastic collar that allows the shift boot to move around the shifter shaft? The MGW shifter has a rubber bushing between the boot collar and the flange in the shifter shaft, but the problem still exists. I wondered about the jam nut rattling against the boot collar, but the problem seems to exist for others with the stock Ford shift knob as well, which doesn't contact the shift boot in the same way. Has anyone tried placing some form of insulation between the shift boot collar and the shifter shaft? Should the entire shifter/BR bracket assembly be completely clear of the body? If so, is that possible with the MGW shifter including the heat shield, or is there inadequate clearance? I'm thinking the contact point for the body/shifter assembly is the MGW rear mount, but I cannot see the mount with the heat shield in place.
I could spend a lot of time on trial and error testing, and will as necessary, but I am hoping someone smarter than me is closer to a solution. In the mean time, I am heading to Roebling Road this coming weekend, and look forward to seeing how the new assembly performs under load. The rattle will have to wait until I get back.