my '88 RRC V8 Highline with an LT77 5spd has this rather nasty habit of making a hideous graunching noise about 1 in 30 times that first or reverse is selected at rest. a recent atf change saw the sump plug covered in swarf so obviously things are not right in there. otherwise it behaves fine with good changes through the gears.
i appreciate that this unit has a litany of problems but i'm wondering if there is an imminent possibility of stranding or could i just live with it?

further to this, would an update to the R380 transmission be a good idea? as there are relatively few later manual RRC's in australia i think my best source would be from a disco. i have the short lever behind the range change selector arrangement so which model/year disco would have the same set up and is the bell housing from the R380 required too?
any advice gratefully received.