...Remove the Plate! Go Drive! And Practice-Practice-Practice!!!
Most important is that Neutral is STRAIGHT UP and CENTERED, If it is NOT, then Make it So, AFTER you have removed the forward detent!! If the Detent in the ZF does NOT Hold the shifter Upright, the Spring is Broken in the ZF. If the Shifter is held up, but is Not Straight Vertical, the Shifter Linkage is NOT adjusted Properly.
ALL Gear Shifts Have to Pass Through Neutral, First! Look at the Pictures from Straight up Neutral, HELD Straight-Up AND CENTERED, by the Spring Loaded DETENT IN THE ZF! NOT the forward detent under the shifter. 2nd Gear is a Simple Straight FORWARD. 3rd Gear is Straight BACK! 1st...4th...and 5th Gears are ALL in 'Their' CORNERS! When (I) 'Come Out' of a Gear...the First thing I 'Feel' For, is the Neutral Position. I give it a short wiggle Sideways, to be sure I have found it. 'Slamming' Gears...'Speed Shifting'?? NOT in My Kat!! I give the Syncros All the Time They Need to 'Kiss and Make-Up'.
Last...If the 'Fingers' were so Accurate and Helpful, ask why some owners have found it necessary to File the Sides for Clearance?? Because, in my view, it is near impossible to get a Perfect Alignment of all entities. If The Measurements on the Plate I posted were cut any Smaller, the Shifter 'Rod' would Hit and Vibrate against the Edges, and the Gears would never become FULLY Engaged. The photos show a Proper Clearance. Now, Get Rid of The 'Fingered' Plate and that Useless, Forward Detent!!! ALL Detention is IN the ZF!! The Improvement You Experience will Make the 2 Hours of Work, all worth It! You have My Personal Guarantee!!
Look at the Shifter in 2nd Gear...Straight-Up and Straight Forward!! The Fingers, will Not 'Allow' this, AND all other Positions.
MJ