Mathew - I have had both problems on my 1989 4/4 4 seater
First the 1st gear - I suggest you first try a slight adjustment to the clutch cable. This is simple, you need two spanners to ensure it is unlocked and then locked again.
Secondly suspension. The road leading to my son's school has some mean speed bumps. Very soon after buying my 4/4 I realised that I needed to improve the rear suspinsion. I had the telescopic rear shock absorber kit from Rutherford Engineering put on, plus Koni shocks, plus I had the number of leaf srings reduced to 6 (as suggested by Rutherfords). Later on I had a panhard rod fitted becuse the bodywork would touch the prop shaft on fast bends when the car was loaded.
The car is now transformed. Bummps are no probelm.
