When my 1970 rear shift 914 is in neutral the gear shift is so floppy you struggle to find a gear,also when cold it goes into second[once you find it ] nicely after a little while you struggle big time to get into gear
thanks

First step is to replace all the nylon bushings and cups between the shift knob and the transmission. The early 4 cylinder tail shift transmission has the most connection points, so the gearshift does require quite a lot of monkey motion to actually shift the gears in the transmission.

There are plenty of options, all are much more expensive than replacing the bushings and adjusting the linkage.

The FIRST thing to check is the ball cup under the shift lever. Most common failure, and the easiest to fix.

The Cap'n

Mine was broken and it's a super quick repair.

And when you pull the shifter check the plate in the shifter for wear. I checked three of them when I went to sell one and found two of them had excess wear if the plate. I might be able to get you a picture of a bad one.
Bruce