87 cabrio: manual tranny stuck in reverse

[kollegekid]

I last fall i got a 87 cabby that needed a lot of tlc.
There are lots of quirks with this car that needed attention. I've been tinkering off and on for quite a while, but now im stumped.
I finally got everything running well, and the tranny is giving me probs.

It started with a little trouble shifing into 1st. The next day, I had to start moving in 2nd, cause i could only get it into 1st 20% of the time. The 3rd day, it got stuck in reverse, just as i backed out of my driveway.

Currently, the shifter is stuck pressed down ,like its in reverse, but it can move back and forth (similar to shifting between 1st and 2nd). It can't move side to side at all.

Is this just a linkage problem, or something more major? Will this be a tough fix? How do I go about it? Will i need a car lift/ take a bunch of crap off to get to the problem?