833 OD sticking in 4th, chipped synchro

Still not having an aha moment. I have disassembled the transmission. The synchro springs are all in place and hooked in different struts. Nothing is obviously out of place. Neither bearing has any discernible side motion.

On the plus side, I exhumed the small box containing the old parts from the y2k rebuild. Some things to note. 1) There are no syncro springs, so the ones in the trans are the originals. 2) The original syncros (with lively pink paint) range from barely worn to one that has significant wear where the strut end hits at all 3 locations. Hmm. 3) The bearings are one 307, that is garbage, and one 308SG10. The 308 is in really good shape. no noise and no side movement. It is exactly the same dimensionally as the one on the input now.

Today's plan is to put the cover on the somewhat bare case and measure the distance that the lever actually moves going into 3 and 4 and also 1 and 2. Also the distance from each to neutral. I'm also planning to take the best original syncro and stab the mainshaft and input back in to see if it will shift with that syncro.

One other thing. It seems that replacement strut springs that I see offered now have a hook on both ends. If it were y'all, would you be more willing to get new "oem" springs which may or may not be up to the original quality, or assume the originals are the best option?