901 rebuild questions!

[Russ1302]

I have an earle 901 5-speed, that I'm rebuilding. The main gear select rod that runs tru the nose cone has alot of groove in the end of it. They runn linear with the shaft, and are on the end that goes into the transaxle case. Is the common? What is the fix for this? It seems odd to have all of the wear on the steel rod when it seats in aluminum. Any input would be a big healp. PS I'm using a different case, due to all of the wear.

Thanks
Russ