If you have an early gearbox, with a late selector plate in the car, and you select "2", you should get full auto. If you select "D" you should pullaway in second and change up to Top and shunt between those two gears as req'd, but it won't ever select 1st in that position. Sounds like that's the problem you've got, which obviously isn't the problem you thought you had at the start of the thread.