Hi there,
	I just took apart my shift lever parts and greased them.  Here
is my impression of how it works, and how pressing down allows you to
move into reverse.  I tried to draw a picture of it all below.  There
is a spring that is inside the boot.  The bottom of the shift lever is
a ball that fits inside a cup (this cup is under the bus floor, you
can see it when you take it apart) that moves the shift rod that plays
in the tranny.  On the shift lever, in the area within the boot, is a
disk (parralel to the bus floor and right above the bus floor). The
stop plate is between the boot and the floor and has a raised piece
that prevents the shift lever itself from moving into reverse.  By
pressing down, you move the disk below the raised part on the stop
plate allowing the shift lever to move into reverse.  If I were you I
would take it apart.  Maybe your stop plate is broken, maybe the spring
is messed up, maybe the stop plate is upsidedown?  Look for things
that look wrong, take the stop plate to a vw shop and compare it.
These are all just guesses, I am still a little clueless.  When I
first put everything back together I put the stop plate in upsidedown
and could move into reverse without pushing down, but I couldn't move
into 3rd or 4th.  so, who knows.  Good luck.

                    ===
                    ===  <-- Knob
                     | 
                     | 
                     | 
                     |   <-- lever
                     | 
                     | 
                     | 
                     | 
                     | 
                     |
                    /|\
                   / | \  <-- boot
                   | | |
                   | | |
                   _____  <-- stop plate
              =============== <--- bus floor
                     |
                    |*|   <-- ball inside of cup
                    ===

take care,
	brandy
-- 
   \   /     A. Brandy pSmythe (brandys@ichips.intel.com)
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