I've just been trying to follow the video guide - 

- on adjusting gear linkages. It all seemed to be going so well until I got to the final part and found that I couldn't select second and fourth, and the change to 1st, 3rd, 5th and reverse feels completely wrong and horrible.

 

What have I done wrong!? and can I fix it??

 

One thing I noticed was when I undid the left hand knurled ring, the steel cable slid backwards towards the car, seeming to take up some slack. It wasn't easy to undo them and lock them back in the first place.

 

 I was also unable to press the chrome trans bracket down more than a couple of mm, and equally the small black plastic lever would push in but not point straight up like it was supposed to

 

any advice before I have to come and get it towed to the garage would be much appreciated!!

 

I can supply some pics if needed

 

In case it's relevant I used a nail like the guy in the video, pushed it in as far as it'd go

I thought I'd mucked mine up the first time I did it as I couldn't select first at all.

 

I'd suggest you simply try again and ensure that the locking pin is down properly on the gearbox

The locking pinis kind of at 45 degrees and it will turn down to 90 degrees without being pushed in, but with it pushed in it won't turn up to the top. I've tried again a few times to no avail

UPDATE: I've done something and managed to get 3rd, 4th and 5th nicely, but 1st, 2nd and reverse are impossible. 

 

I did manage to get the pin to point straight up by turning it quite hard, without it being pushed in, but I thought I wasn't supposed to do that

UPDATE 2: They feel like they just about work after a bit more fiddling, but they feel a lot rougher and worse than before. Using a slightly thicker nail seemed to help. Will keep persevering

What u can do is release the cables let them sit at resting and lock them off see how that feels . Remember mine was quite a fiddly job not like the video suggests

it will go back in and out of gear now but they feel notchy and a bit fragile somehow, at least I'll be able to drive it though. what do you mean by locking them off sorry? I also discovered the l-shaped thing the linkages connect to has about a 2 inch up and down travel, and only in one sweet spot will it lock in with the little black lever. that seemed to do the trick, but as i said, still far from perfect

you can undo the ends to pull the cables out,  just undo let the cable rest and do them up again