Ok I see now !
well If I remember well it takes some finesse to get it in, but it should go in.
If you want you can remove the first bearing, it might help a little
I received your shifter ! and fixed it
first, don't use grease, it's already lubricated were it needs it!
then I put the buckets in my drill, and ground them with 150grit sand paper, then 500 and 1200.
I almost lost a finger, but now the bearings fit inside
proof (I trid to polish the outside ... didn't work ...) :
Ben