How soon should I get a new transmission?

[vegasnoob]

Sup guys, my 97 LX has been acting weird lately. Here are some of the things its been doing:
-shakes a little bit at the beginning in first gear
- jerks sometimes when shifting gears (or maybe I'm just getting lazy at driving stick )
- won't go into 5th gear on the first try
- my car has a chattering/dragging kind of noise to it all of the time (ruins the sound of my exhaust & it's so annoying.)

I googled these problems 1st & came to the conclusion that it's my transmission that's causing all of this? Please, correct me if I am wrong, I'm no car expert.
BUT, if the transmission is the problem, how soon should I get it fixed? And which transmission should I get?

 

[RonJ]

Sound more like a clutch problem.

Also check the motor mounts.

 

[vegasnoob]

Sound more like a clutch problem.

Also check the motor mounts.

Hopefully it is just the clutch, I've been wanting a stage 2 clutch anyway
& okay thanks, will check that.

 

[stcopley]

Stage 2 clutch on a stock d16?

 

[evilrilla2]

my initial thought was the clutch, but then why would your car be shaking and have a chattering noise? i would say it definitely has at least 2 issues with it. make a check list and narrow it down fixing the cheapest parts first. transmission should be the last thing.