yeah, sort of - like the van...
the repair lasted for about 100k's until the reverse was missing again....
also the first and second gear started to make some strange ratteling noises while using the engine break

(
we decided to bring it to a transmisson specialist.
once we arrived there we had to find out that he was fully booked.
Nevertheless he gave us another address in Wellington and told us that a missing reverse gear is likely caused due to exessive sludge and residual buildup on the reverse gear locking mechanism.
it'ts that little locking thing, which prevents you to shift into reverse while driving forward.
We already bought some spare manual transmission fluid - gl4 spec - so I decided to change the oil myself.
Due to a missing size 24 spanner, i just took off the complete coverplate and some shimmering black sticky oil drained out of the gearbox...
Apparently it has never been changed over the last 21 years...
There has been some heavy sludge and metal particles, sticking to the coverplate.
I found that little, formerly freely moving lock and gave it a good cleanup.
Sorry I didnt take any pictures since i was covered in oil....
I cleaned the coverplate and used some self forming gasket silicone to put it back on.
Soon I reaalized that the one liter of fluid i bought would be way too less, so i had to find another way to get us to the next shop, without putting all the old sludge back into the transmissioon..
I should have taken some pictures of our multi stage trans fluid filtration assembly...
First we used an old sock to remove the bigger particles, then a pillowcase and finally a few coffe filters, using bottles as funnels..
Initially all the particles made the oil kinda sticky between your fingers, after filtration it was like oil again
I put the new oilö and somme of the old oil back in and - our reverse is back
Now I got to adjust the cables to get rid of that bad noise while using the engine brake..... are there any manuals or instructions on it?
If I had a decent place to do the works, it wouldn't have been as messy as it was, but no big deal at all...
hope that helps somehow...
btw, we gonna change the fluid asap

)