Gearstick Floppy - No 5th or Reverse

[BEN-C93]

Hi

I have an issue with my '53 KA Collection, where the gearstick has gone floppy; in the sense that I have a lot of left-right movement/rotation whilst in gears and I'm not entirely sure has caused it. I'm reluctant to spend too much money on  getting a diagnosis for a car which is only worth a few hundred quid and is most likely going to be scrapped in Feb; so if I could get any useful pointers for where to start that would be much appreciated.  Driving home, I noticed it starting to give whilst changing gears. Within a few minutes it had gotten so bad that with any attempt to select 5th, I was just getting 3rd (in the position I would normally find 5th), meaning I had to drive home across 60 miles of Great British dual carriageway nursing it home in 4th. Not fun.

I would estimate at the moment in either 3rd or 4th I've got about 30-40 degrees of movement left or right (I think its a rotation rather than a lateral movement), first and second are both selectable (albeit only just) but 5th and reverse are just out of reach of the box. 

Once in gear, the car is running fine; so no immediate worries with the clutch though I can hear the faint beginning of the end in it. I don't really have any understanding of how the linkage works in the KA, but my first guess would be a bush or possibly a clip from the stick to the main linkage as the stick itself has gone and it's only left/right movement

Does this sound plausible? Or would you suspect something far more sinister in the depths of the car?

I would preferably like to keep the car on the road for the time being, as savings come February will allow me to buy a better 'upgrade'. But that said, a ridiculously expensive job isn't really on the cards

Thanks

[delboy]

The selector maybe slipping. Get under the car and look at the bar that comes off the gear shift and see if the clamp that connects it to the rod from the gbox is secure and not moved