My tranny won't go in blues

YES. And I tried it on the spline before I installed it. It fit properly.

 

I would swear by the looks that you have the wrong release bearing. And if you said that the clutch fork wont budge, then there is definitely a problem in the release bearing, pressure plate, disc area. If you decide to pull it all back down you could unbolt the bellhousing and put it alone up in place for a trial fit. Then go from there. But as I think you know, NEVER use the mounting bolts to pull the tranny into place. If all parts are correct and disc is centered, the trans should slip over the 2 line up pins on the engine. The input shaft is a 32 tooth so it will easily engage the clutch disc with a little wiggle. Keep us posted.

 

I could not move the fork with my big channel locks, I would think 16". As for the slave cylinder, I can't see it when I press the clutch. Maybe my wife can watch it and let me know after work. I wondered if the shaft was slightly off the pilot bearing, it would cause this scenario. One side fits, the other won't, and seems bowed up so the bolts don't line up on that side. In any case I think I am headed towards pulling it off again. I wish it came with a check port, window, or camera where you could see what is going on in there. The bell housing unbolts from the inside. Perhaps this is a test worth trying. Because of my age and health there is a lot I can't do, like heavy lifting, but my helper will be over Saturday, weather permitting. I will let everyone know here how it goes.

 

looks the same. looks can be deceiving. I only see one way it can go if (1) the clips go onto the fork, and (2) It is to push against the clutch plate to disengage the drive to the transmission. Pulling the bell off to check the operation may be in order.

 

I think your best way forward is to drop the trans, and look things over. Compare the overall height of the old and new release bearings. Make sure the release fork retainer clip has captured the ball stud correctly and the ball stud is seated in the dimple on the release fork. Apply grease. Swing the release fork through it's travel to make sure the release bearing slides freely up and down the input retainer. Then I would remove the bell housing (9 bolts?) and trial fit the bell to the engine, making sure you have the spacer plate that goes between the engine and bell installed first, if there is one. Do you have the bell oriented in the correct position when mating to the engine? The engine is tilted about 20 degrees CW so be aware of that. When the trans is down, pictures of the components inside the bell housing as well as picts of the pressure plate and back of the engine may help someone here catch something wrong. Cheers.

 

I recently replaced my rear main seal by myself in my driveway while the truck was on jackstands and I definitely empathize with you on how much of a PITA this job can be. I had to hold the transmission up with one leg to slide it over the rear brace and then turn it 90 degrees to get it to move forward before rotating it back to the proper position. What helped me to seat the transmission to the engine was after aligning the spline and engine output using the alignment tool with a vertical line painted on it, I got the transmission close enough to use one of the longer transmission to engine bolts to pull the transmission forward when the bolt engaged the engine through the transmission housing. In order for this to work however, you've got to a) make sure you are as accurately aligned as possible to start and b) I had to rock the engine up and down slightly from the transmission side while slowly tightening the bolt to ensure the pins were aligned and the tranny snugged up tight. I also hit the alignment pins with scotch brite before trying to button it back up and I didn't tighten any one bolt too much before putting in the others so I could draw the tranny in as parallel to the motor as possible after it was aligned. I supposed if I you misaligned it you might feel an excessive level of torque when you try to tighten them down so be careful and back them out if you find this to be the case.

It sounds like you may have already tried all of this so perhaps as one of the previous posters said, pull it back out and make sure that the throw out bearing isn't off of, or misaligned with the shift arm as maybe that can happen during assembly if you've not done this type of job before. I'm curious why you didn't replace the shift arm since you already went to all the trouble of pulling the trans and replacing the throw out bearing?