What am I missing ?
 

So the motor went in on friday..very exciting and spent sunday mounting the exhaust and miscellaneous nuts /bolts.
I figured I should engage the trans to make sure were good before I go any further.
So shifter and linkage seem fine,1st gear and the wheels turn freely?? Not good! The clutch feels fine. Same scenario with clutch cable disconnected. What am I missing?

Year of car? Perhaps the clutch release arm is not engaged in the through out bearing?

Are you sure the shifter linkage is adjusted correctly? try a different gear (second or reverse). Are the CV axles connected?

I'm assuming the car is on jack stands? is the other wheel spinning the opposite way? this would be normal for an ope diff. configuration.

It’s a 72. Yes. Tried other gears. It’s on a lift. Wheels spin freely in all gears. If I turn the pulley the wheels move but with no resistance.
It seems like the motor won’t mount unless the clutch arm is in the proper position.

that pulley are you referring to?

when you rotate one wheel is the other wheel rotating also? if so is it rotating in the same direction or the opposite direction? Try have some one hold the wheel on the opposite side and then try rotating the wheel.

This would be normal with an open diff. try and spin both wheels at the same time while in gear. If you have a limited slip diff. you have a problem.

Richard

I’ll be at the shop in the morning and give it a try.
Thanks for everyone’s input

I'd definitely look into this.

It’s a new day And all is well. This morning I put it in gear and tried pushing it which at that point the motor did turn.
The whole thing about spinning the wheels while it was on the lift kind of threw me a bit.

Glad to here it was nothing more than inexperience. You have an open differential in the trans and thats why it spun so easily. A lesson well learned for the next time.

Richard