Yes you can still skip second, the way everything is pressed together all only one gear is taking stress at one time, or none in neutral, even though both the cluster and input shaft are spinning. Second will contine to wear though even though its not actually under stress so you need to get it fixed before it starts shaving off little bits of metal that will wear other parts of the tranny. Sounds like needle roller bearings that are going bad so once the synchros lock up second gear is now turning with stress on it and its shatty bearing. It is always turning anyways because it is always touching the cluster but as soon as you lock it up with the clutch hub and sleeve, blammo, the stress makes the bearings chirp. If you want a rebuild kit PM me and i'll set you up with the guy who sold me mine, i had to rebuild after my first gear needle roller and cluster bearing started chirping on take off. If you plan on doing this yourself you'll need a machine shop sooner or later to press clutch hubs and 5th gear and what not on and off the output shaft. Good luck.
P.S. Never seen a shaft bend or come loose, shaft bearings or needle roller bearings are usually the culprit. The shafts are made of stainless steel about an inch in diamter... bendable? Not unless you've got some serious horsies, like 800.
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