The perished rubber is easily sorted out for a few quid,
If the gear stick is floppy when in gear then it's likely a stretched cable.
I think there's a how to to sort this out.
The reverse gear is a bit of a pain to engage at the best of times anyway.
If you can't get gears have someone go through the gears whilst you have a look at the gearbox end and see if everything is moving.
If it's not then the cables snapped........ World of pain!!!!
WHALE OIL BEEF HOOKED
(THE ARTIST FORMERLY KNOWN AS ANDY THE TYRE MAN)