MG Car Repair: Bugeye transmission, smooth case, shift lever

Question
I have a smooth case transmission with a slightly balky shift. I can live with that. The big problem is at a stop, the trans will not shift into first or second without a lot of thrashing of the shift lever. I believe the clutch is properly set up. Once the first or second are engage  everything is fine until the next stop light. Is this a shift lever engagement issue or is it the syncro's. If the syncros it means a new transmission.
Thank you for your consideration.
Gary Vandersyde

Answer
Hi Gary,
First gear didn't have a syncro in those old gearboxes but second did and if you are getting a lot of grinding going into first and the idle is down below 1000 RPM then you don't have a clutch that is properly set up as you call it. Even if the syncros (2nd, 3rd & 4th) are worn, they are much cheaper than a new gearbox.
Howard