1977 chevette 4 speed mg td by fiberfab

The shifter on this has no spring to it.  It just flops all over the place unlike others I have used that self center with a spring.  This makes it real hard to figure out where 1st is compared to 3rd when shifting.  You just have to guess that you are in line with 1st then if you are shift down then up and over to 3rd.  When going back to first it’s anothe guessing game because the darn thin just flops around.

Does anyone know why this is?  Is there a missing spring on the he transmission or is this how the chevette is?