I just purchased an 86 Samurai and it has a high pitched whine in 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears. I drained the oil and it looks like it has very fine gold glitter in the oil; nothing you can feel but you can see what looks like fine glitter in the oil. I can live with the whine but I don't want to get stranded in the middle of nowhere if that whine is a signal the tranny is about to die. The tranny shifts very smooth through all 5 gears and reverse. I don't want to spend time and money messing with the tranny if I don't have to. Do you guys think the whine and glitter in the oil is a sign it will go out soon? It has 85,000 miles on it. Thanks for any advice.

If you are capable I would go ahead and rebulid it.  The 5 speed is pretty simple transmission, with that low of miles you probably just need some new bearings.

The synchros are gold colored.  The bearings are silver.  So I would say the gold glitter is from the synchros.  If you are going to rebuild it, I would replace the synchros either way.....they are cheap and why just do a half-assed job of rebuilding it?

How can you tell it is the tranny whining, not the t-case or rear end?  Just wandering, I serviced all 4 of mine and still getting a whine in 4 & 5
Thanks

A transfer case whine will change with the over-all speed of the vehicle where a transmission whine will change based on the gears.