I had a similar problem with grinding into 2nd. I ended up changing the under hood bushings to the solid buschur ones. And I also changed the in cab shiftier bushings. They were energy suspensions I think. But it worked.

 

grinding gear on any gears in cars, evo especially is not normal at all

 

"normal" or "common"?

Its common, the 2nd gear grind happens a lot, mostly (in my opinion) due to the shift linkage.

I've noticed in my car, if I shift to second and put a small amount of LH side force on the shifter as you go into second it shifts butter smooooooooth every time, if not, you get that slight notchy grind.

 

My 2nd gear was notchy as hell and I would have to take extra care to no grind into 2nd. This was more apparent in the cold mornings. I've since added a braided clutch line, new fluid and had the petal adjusted. Shifting from 1st to 2nd is much easier now.

5th gear is still giving me trouble

 

For those of you with worn transmission synchros (ie causing your notchy shifting). I recommend rebuilding your transmission through Jackstransmissions. As they "blueprint" their synchros during reassembly of the transmission. This improves shift quality and efficiency dramatically. Well atleast it did for me...

Here's the link to the process.

Jackstransmissions "Synchronizer Blueprinting"

http://www.jackstransmissions.com/pa...o-blueprinting

 

This has been discussed before. The soft stock engine and tranny mounts flex under torque. While flexed something in the shift linkage becomes out of alignment. Stiffer motor mounts and it's gone, athough you'll have slightly more vibration in the cabin.

 

That does not account for the low speed, "notchy" second and third shifts (where the motor is barely under load). Under hood and shifter bushings help that dramatically, and so does the correct transmission fluid.

The rollstopper is what prevents the motor from rotating backwards, which I think is what you mean by motor mounts.. The stock motor mounts have been proven up to 600+ hp.. Upgrading the rollstopper improves the shift quality at higher rpms, where more load is exerted.