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Neal -- here's another possible cause: If you lift up the flexible boot over the stick shift, you'll see a thick steel plate bolted down on the stickshift support. This is the lock-out plate which prevents reverse from being engaged unless you pull up on the ring. (Pull up on the ring while everything's exposed and you can see how it all works.) It may be that this lock-out plate has over the years migrated too far to the right and it's now preventing your stick shift from moving left far enough to properly engage 1st.

Bentley calls this a 'detent plate'. Bentley says to properly adjust it, you first engage first gear, then loosen the detent plate and tighten it back up with a 0.5 -1.5mm clearance between the plate and the stick. In other words, when you engage 1st gear, the stick shouldn't rub the detent plate.

Hope this helps.

Rob