Ok, that sounds like you throw out bearing, which means you have to drop the tranny to change it. As for harder shift, getrags(our tranny) are known for lil harder shift, especially into first. I would recommend you changing the fluid first and see what it does. It should shift smoother. Buy this 2 bottles of B&M Synthetic Shift trick, drop a third bottle in it (too over fill it) if you want to get the "getrag growl" noise away, google it.
