Hurst competition or A833 issues

That's a shifter problem.
I think there's a part missing, or installed wrong.
Do this;
Take the shifter off, and clamp the body in a vise, in such manner that it can be shifted. Put nuts and washers on the mounting bolts
Put the shifter into second.
Try to immobilize the 1-2 lever.
Try to shift it 2 to 3, and back again. Try sneaking thru the gate while not actually in the gate. If you can get gears without the levers being in a true neutral, then a separator plate is either missing or damaged beyond repair. The shifter will have to come apart.
STOP!!
I think once the shifter is apart, that there might be a gazillion ways to put it together, but only one is correct. Many many years ago, I spent an entire afternoon fussing with one, before I got it right. (Yeah it works perfect now)
The take away here is to take lots of pictures, or just sent it to Brewers.
Those separator plates, I think are stainless steel, so if yurs is damaged, IDK if it can be repaired. There should be exactly ONE separator plate between each two levers. If memory serves me, there are three levers and 4 separators, and the spring-loaded hammer-head thing in the stick-handle, and every part has to be in there and correctly installed, and you cannot see any damage until it is all exploded on your bench. Take lots of pictures, at every step.
But maybe you'll be lucky and somebody just put it together wrong.