Transmission Noise?

Today I drove 150 miles to chicago to buy a car that I saw on Ebay. It was a 94 EX, I was very impressed with the body there was 2 little dings on passenger side. It was owned by a girl and her friend met me. She told me earlier in communications that,
"the transmission will need work if you want to keep
it for a longer time. i looked into an engine swap...and it should cost about 2500-3000 including labor. but honestly, i'm sure the car can last another 3-5 years without any major problems."
I test drove this thing for about 10 mins. After I shifted into 2nd and let the clutch out and pushed the gas i could only stand to go up to like 3K. There was the most annoying noise. It almost sounded like constant grinding of the gears, but the thing is i wasn't shifting. It also did it in 3rd the same way. The guy told me it cuts out in 4th and 5th meaning no noise. He said she said she took it in and said the transmission but really wasn't about it. Anyone know what this could have been, how much to fix it. This car would have been great for 2200....except I wasn't sure if it could go back 150 miles :o Maybe I could get back to her and offer her less.....I did plan on doing a swap but I need the car to be able to hold up for awhile until I have the funds to do so.
Any ideas?