I was driving along in my '85 with a manual 4sp. While in third gear I 
came to a stop and to my horror I could not get it into neutral. After 
frantically working the lever I was able to get into neutral and then 
into first gear. While doing this I encountered great resistance and 
the familiar H pattern went away only to be replaced by a nebulas stiff 
mush. Yuck! Things seemed to settle into place again and I was able to 
get home but 4th gear was not available. Later last night I was able to 
get into 4th gear but only with great difficulty. What's going on?

Steve