ok, this just happened recently...driving a couple of days ago, and when i switched gears from second to third and third to fourth, there's these sounds coming, they sound like metal hitting another piece of metal, is that normal?

just got the 1987 gxl a month a go.

 

It could be that your transmission is old and the gear synchronizers are worn down. Lots of FCs with factory transmission seem to start to die around this time in their life.