95 5-speed troubles

I bought the car for very little but I knew it had some troubles. I've fixed everything else but now to the major one.
1. Second gear is messed up. The shifter lingage feels normal but I only get a grinding noise when I release the clutch in 2nd. The clutch is OK and adjusted. I've heard a couple of possibilities. The 1-2 synchro could be bad. I've also heard that the shifter forks may not be metal and this type could be bent, preventing full engagement.
2. When in 1st gear, there is a loud whine that is as loud as,and identical to the normal whine in reverse. It is also present in 3rd gear but more subdued. I don't notice it in 4th or 5th but by then the road noise is pretty loud. Is this by design or is something else going on?
I understand the mechanical theory of a manual transmission but have little to no experience actually working on them. I intend on doing the repairs myself as I have other transportation and would like input about what the problems probably are, what it would take to repair, and a good source for parts. The local transmission shop has an overhaul kit for $269 and doesn't sell individual parts.
Thanks in advance for any help.

Charles

Scrap the trans. It needs a new 1st and 2nd gear sychro set, new 2nd gear, new engaugement hub, and a bearing set. The overhaul kit, plus labor, plus the new gears will cost wayyyy more than just a junkyard transmission. You can use a trans from any 89-01 metro/swift/swift GT/pontiac firefly/chevy sprint. The gear ratios are different. If you have a 3cyl, look for any 3 banger trans. 4 banger, use a 4 banger trans. Try and find one with less than 75k on it. I got a 2000 chevy metro trans with 14k on it last year for $250 at the boneyard. Http://www.car-part.com

you can usually buy a jap low mile pullout tranny on e-bay for 150 or check local papers for someone that sell the japanese pullout engines, would save you shipping cost

Thanks for the info. I called all the local wrecking yards and they all say the '89 to '94 is different than the '95 up. And they want double for the '95 and up. Does anyone know what the difference is? Is it significant?

Thanks,
Charles

i just took a 95 transmission and put it in a 92 metro. everything fit with no problem and works just fine

Thanks to everyone for their help, but I need some more!
I'm in the process of pulling the transmission and I'm getting stuck on the rear mount. Axles are out, oil is drained, starter is out, everything is disconnected. All the transaxle to engine bolts are removed except for one that's finger tight. I've removed the drivers side mount and on the rear mount I've removed the 2 nuts on the bottom. The engine and transaxle pivot down a couple of inches on the RH mount but the studs on the rear mount aren't even starting to come clear. Do I need to remove the exhaust and the RH mount and lower the complete engine with the transaxle in order to get clearance or am I just missing something simple? Maybe a BFH?
I only get about an hour or so every couple of days to work on it so I don't want to waste time removing a bunch of stuff that's unnecessary.

Torqued

Did you remove the fixed shaft and carrier on the passenger side axle? All you need to do is remove the 4 bolts that mount the carrier to the engine and then the fixed shaft should pull right out.

Fixed shaft and carrier? I'm not sure what you mean. Both axles are completely removed. The only thing left that I can see holding the whole engine in is the exhaust and the passenger side mount in the front.

torqued

No problem! Went out to the car a little bit ago and the rear mount had released by itself. Tranny and clutch are now removed.

Torqued