M47 transmission, 294,000 km. It has always been hard to shift into 1st and sometimes 2nd gear. I replaced the fluid with Redline MTL this summer and it improved the shifting on the higher gears, but not 1st. After a particularly frustrating drive to work the other day (about 10 mi. of stop and go traffic jam) I had noticed that if I pushed HARD left on the stick, it would slide nicely into 1st, but if I pushed left then hard forward, no way. If I lifted the reverse knob and was careful, easy shift into 1st.

Chiltons says there is no adjustment of the linkage, Haynes has instructions for adjusting the reverse detent plate as part of shift lever removal. The detent plate prevents moving the lever so far left that you accidently go into reverse instead of 1st. Mine apparently was preventing the lever moving left far enough to allow smooth shift into 1st.

Really easy job. Lift the rubber boot from the carpet. The two bolts are right there. I adjusted mine by trial and error and the easiest shifting is when the detent plate is quite far to the left, more than the .06 inch clearance limit in the book.

I'm a happy camper again, all gears shifting with two fingers pressure.