Trouble shifting into 2nd and Reverse

[Duncan]

Just for general info...

My '84 CGT had gearbox trouble, and I ended up re-working it... reverse can
give trouble as there is no synchro, and certainly with mine, once I got it
out, it was _severely_ worn... the angled sections on the front of the gear
which aid engagement had worn from a 90 degree (very rough guess) angle to a
continuous curve with a flat spot where the angle used to be.
It's my assumption that this flat spot is what causes reverse to stick.
Spinning it up (slowly) in neutral usually allows it to successfully select
next time round...

2nd gear synchro is also a common problem, and I replaced this and 3rd gear
synchro while I was in there...

gearbox is silky smooth now (reverse is still dodgy though, but at least I
know why!), and I may be doing the same to my CQ at some point as the gears
are a getting pretty notchy...
I will try george's suggestion of synthetic gear lube 1st though, as the
g'box job will have my baby off the road for longer than I would prefer...
If I have to break into the box to do the clutch I may well drop it out and
reco the whole thing...

anyway, just some ramblings...

Duncan
85 CQ (notchy g'box)
84 CGT (silky smooth reworked box)
83 80Q (shagged clutch cyl)