Hard shifting 6mt first and reverse

1- Spec b swap with AP suretrac flsd installed.

1.5- New (open box) slave cylinder installed. I borked it though and had to swap the piston from my old (5mt) slave to get it to work after a failed bleed/install.

2- Motul 300 gear oil. All seems smooth shifting

3- Master Cylinder starts to fail two weeks later

4- Super hard shifting with maybe 2 inches of workable clutch while waiting for master cylinder to arrive.

5- Master cylinder installed, bled, clutch feels like it did before it started to fail.

5.5- 2-6 shift like normal. 1st and reverse feel extra notchy to shift into.

Did I kill the syncros?

Something is up.

I have seen a few older, finicky 6MT's that would act like that after pulling the engine or trans. They "worked" them selves out after a few drives. Oddest thing.

Cant explain it. Actually described, presented a car exhibiting the issue and discussed/test drove at length with an industry engineer who could not explain it either. Obviously something is out of spec and works its way into spec. We suspected a slightly thick disc that once it wears just enough the problem is gone.

But I have only seen it with pre 08 6mts.

I had a similar experience. 4th ground on me once or twice when the clutch was still breaking in, and the lower gears would feel a little scratchy. When the clutch finally broke in the shifting quality improved to what I expected. Super smooth and defined now, like a rifle bolt. I'm glad I didn't dump the gear oil fill and start experimenting. I'm pretty sure the new clutch was just thick enough to drag slightly at certain temps. Clutch is a comp stage 2 in case anyone is wondering. If I were doing it again, I think I'd go for something more aggressive. The stage 2 clutch is a bit too easy to drive.

The break in guidelines for the clutch were optimistic in my opinion. It took nearly 7k of driving to smooth out.