i'm almost there

so i found a gearbox up in delaware, hooked it up to the engine, put it all back together and now, naturally, the problems start. the gearbox is locked up. at first i thought it was stuck in gear, but if i push down and then to the right really hard, i can get it to knock over, but not down actually into reverse gear. so as far as i know, i'm in neutral, but if i try and spin the driveshaft, rear wheels at the same time, rock the car back and forth, i get nowhere but a couple inches in either direction.

now the master cylinder had been emptied because i had to replace the slave cylinder and still need to replace the front brake lines. i have not yet bled the clutch line...that wouldn't make a difference, would it? i'd really like to discuss this whole issue over the phone with someone who has the time and familiarity with this year car. PM me for my number if you'd like to chat/could be of some help. cheers.

jake

Usually you at least roll the input shaft, checking output, in all gears before you even buy it, or at least before you install it. If I was to fathom a guess, somebody had the top cover off and something has shifted on one of the forks. You should not need hydraulics if you don't have a load on the gears...like the car has rolled down or uphill.
Others will chime in shortly, but I think you're going to have to pull the top cover with the box level and see where the forks are...then look at the gears...then see what is locked visually...

Agree with TOC. The forks are probably in the wrong position.

This can sometimes happen if someone takes the side cover off (the top cover only exposes the rear part of the shift linkage) and fiddles with the forks. Also, when the side cover comes off, there are two little springs and ball-plungers that can shoot out so you have to be careful when removing.

If you are lucky, sometimes the edge of two synchros is caught in their respective gears at the same time. A little joggling with the shifter while rocking the car might fix things but it should not require a lot of force.
But that's if you're lucky......

I have an old racing friend who tells me he can pull the side cover while in the car and move the forks but it looks like a very difficult job. I just put an engine/ trans in my race car this morning. No fun but you may end up pulling the engine/trans out in your's.