Tranny Damage or Paranoia?

[hlava]

I've been experiencing some strange rough sounds that I believe are coming
from the transmission. It has progressively gotten louder and I originally
thought that it was my 13 year old exhaust finally giving up the ghost.
Well, the exhaust is getting louder, but this sound doesn't originate there.

It really feels/sounds like it's coming from the transmission. No grinding,
gears still slip in and out just as easily as when I bought the car.
Actually, easier, since the first upgrade I did was the ES inserts in the
original torque mounts. I emphasize this because the inserts are made for
the later OEM design... I forced them in, anyway. I also replaced the
front(passenger) and back(drivers) mounts with new OEM mounts... no inserts
there.

The sound isn't present at idle, or in neutral or when the clutch is
depressed. One thing that has always worried me is that when I did the
firewall mount, the nut/screw for the gear shift bushing really digs into
said mount.

I have no strange drippings or anything... driveway is spotless. No strange
sounds when turning, no clicking no groaning or clacking.

I've been using Motul... got the idea from one of Mike K's garage "whatthis"
from se-r.net. It's been in for about 18 months. I only have 2 bottles of
the Motul left, so I'm going to purchase some MT90(4 bottles) and change it
out. While doing that, I believe I'll look for some excess metallic residue.

I've even had the local SE-R guru, Jay Whitely, test drive the car... he
says the noise is normal, that all the Classics sound that way. He noticed
nothing unusual. I've never driven another SE-R... the noise is getting
louder. Am I being paranoid or is there a real issue here?

Sorry for the long post, just trying to give as much information and back
ground as possible.

Thanks for your time and consideration,
Mark Hlava