I've always had the odd problem going 1-2 in my car, you have to be really deliberate to get it to work or you get locked out and grind the heck out of it. If the tires are on fire in 1st it's doubly hard to get the gear. I have steeda mounts with the hard bushings intalled to minimize engine windup.

If it doesn't go in, I go back to neutral, clutch to the mat, and try 2nd again. It still grinds and won't engage. Then I ease off and very slowly try to get 2nd, and it works.

My foot bounces off of the clutch (when I should be in 2nd but am not!) so I suppose this sets the countershaft speed to "x." Should be pretty close to where it needs to be to get 2nd gear, since the engine revvs have fallen a bit by the time this happens.

I'm going to try a new 2nd gear and blocker rings or a synchro assembly, just wondering if anyone has had trouble with clutch disengagement when the system is warm. I haven't heard anything good about aftermarket slave cylinders.

 

I had issues with shifting into second at high rpms, brought it to the dealer they tried it out and got the repair under a TSB worked fine ever since. I believe they replaced the 2nd and 3rd synchros and blocker rings etc...