[BAMM71]

Thanks for the responses. I'll have to create a new Photobucket account or the like to get some pictures posted.

So, I replaced the bushings in the shifter to clean up the slop and added new pins to snug it all up. I drained the gear oil which smelled like...gear oil but was clean. I filled it all back up and gave it another shot...same issue.

Decided that I wasn't giving up that easy and pulled the transmission completely. The gears are beautiful looking without any missing teeth, pitting, heat discoloration or flat spots. The input shaft has a very minor wiggle in it but, I'm told that it should and it's held in place by the pilot bearing once it's bolted in? I called three shops and got two of those answers and one guy who said it's a $500 fix....won't call them again.

Throwout bearing slid right off the fork. I thought there was supposed to be a retainer to keep that from happening? I ordered a new fork, throwout and pivot. Seemed like pretty cheap insurance (under $50) to get that all back in order.

Shifter rod from pedal seemed really sloppy and not held in place by anything (again pics when I can) it just slid into the fork end and when I loosened the bellhousing it fell right out...and I"m thinking that may have been 80% of the problem and I probably didn't need to drop the transmission. :/

The clutch place looks fairly new. Minus the wiggly throw out all the tangs depress in the diaphragm and my buddy said he could see it fully engaging. On top of that, the clutch area is dry as a bone which is also promising and I'm erring on the side of not disassembling the whole thing but since everything is already apart....sigh...