I have 5-speed SE '97. Shifting became harder recently. Well, not shifting itself, but moving shift lever latitudinally (what a word! ) between, say, 2nd and 3rd gears. I suspect that something is wrong with shift lever bearing and want to take it out and take closer look. Is it possible to do this without removind cat converter?

 

You can get to it if you remove the side that connects to the Y-pipe, you will also need to remove the heat-shield to access it. Hope this helps.