I'm on the home stretch with this one, but I have a problem.

Today I bled the clutch, adjusted and installed the shift linkages, installed my brand new custom made drive shaft, and installed the transmission mount.

I jacked up the rear of the car and just wanted to see if I could get the wheels to turn. In 2,3,4,5 and R the wheels move. 1st gear however, has a problem.
I can shift into 1st gear just fine (as far as I can tell) I press in the clutch, move the shift lever up and it feels very positive that it is in gear. As soon as I begin to let out the clutch, well, very bad gear metal sounds happen and the shifter is forced back into the neutral position. It is very obvious that something is not right in a big way, this is not subtle.

PLEASE TELL ME MY TRANS IS NOT BAD!!!

It must be some little adjustment that I don't know about, right?

In the interest of full disclosure I will tell you that I did not check the tranny fluid, I know this sounds stupid but It was 9pm I didn't have the tool and I just wanted to see if the wheels would turn.


Any Ideas?

Thank you!!!

__________________
Kevin

1971 300SEL 3.5
1972 280SE 4.5
1968 280S Parts Car
1983 300D (5-spd conversion almost completed!)
1986 Toyota pickup 22R 4-spd
1968 Mustang 302 (soon to be 5-spd)
1981 Euro-spec 300d 4-spd parts car

Sold:
1987 300D (had 415,000 miles when I sold it, now has 462,000 and still driven every day!! Original head)