When i am "rapidly accelerating" and i hit 3rd, i hear and feel gawd-awful noise coming thru my shifter, almost sounds like pinging, but goes away if i jiggle the shifter. I still have the factory Hurst piece of junk. Anyone know what might be the cause? Thanks!

 

did you do the drill mod to the master cylinder?
I have a similar problem with mine going into 3rd... as well as most of the people on the board. Mine wont let me into 3rd gear at high rpms. Anyways theres a restriction in the master cylinder line that doesn't allow for enough fluid to get thru. It may be you also might have a bad 3rd gear synchro.

 

Didn't do the drill mod yet, more than likely with my luck it's a synchro. Afraid of that..