anyone have any manual tranny experience?

here's the deal. my tranny went out on my 83. so i pulled the tranny out of my parts truck which was all good. i got everything put together from a guy that looked at it and said he was going to charge me 350 bucks just to install front and rear seals. i said no and to send my tranny back to me. so i got it back in a box of parts. the guts were all still together so all i really had to do was reassemble it. now here is my problem...

i went to take it for a test drive and it runs freakin great! except it will not go into 5th or reverse. it doesn't grind or anything, it just won't go into the slot, running or not. anyone have any ideas? my dad told me to take the shifter back out and check out the forks. if this sounds right, please let me know. i am not going to mess with it until tonight or tomorrow. thanks in advance.

.....Hmm, Doesnt sound like synchros if it wont go in while it isnt running. Unless the synchro is COMPLETELY shot! but that should've been noticeable in rebuild.... every other gear works just fine?

yeah, everything looked good and everything else works fine. i know that 5th and reverse work on the same gear or shaft or whatever so it is one little problem. i just don't know what. i am tranny retarded.

Your dad seems to be on the correct route. Take the shifter out. Make sure it's all adjusted properly. Sometimes if you have it tweaked a little wrong it wont go in.

Hmm, If it doesnt grind then the only thing the shaft could be is in backwards.... for those gears

well i pulled the shifter out earlier and you can't tell anything about it. i will have to pull the tranny back apart to check it out. and i am not going to be doing that anytime soon. i guess i will only be rollin at about 55 mph for a little while. i am tired of messing with this engine and tranny so it will wait. haha.

Kinda a dick move, but most trans shops give free estimates, take it in have em take a look! lol then not have them fix it!

yeah, i just don't want to pull it back out again. hahaha.

Ususally can still be in the truck, Drive it or tow it there?

thats the thing i didnt like about my courier i was always workin on it