BillyDon,
Do you know about the fine art of double clutching? With double clutching and a little practice you can shift the tranny with no grinding even if it has no synchros, both up and down.
Basic procedure is to accelerate to the point where you would normally shift, push the clutch in as you let off on the gas, shift to neutral, let the clutch out again, push it in again and shift to the next gear. Be sensitive to the feel of the gear shifting and listen to the tranny and motor.
Shifting down can be a little more tricky as you will want to step on the gas a little when you are in neutral with the clutch out so you can match the gears before you slide it into the lower gear.
When you get good at this, you can shift the tranny without using the clutch at all, by just using the gas pedal to match the gears.
Kurt
