As some of you know, I recently bought a '94 Protege LX with a bad automatic transmission with the plans of swapping it to a manual. I've posted my progress here for those interested.
Well, everything is swapped in, bolted, torqued, and lubed. She runs! Only problem is I can't get into 1st or 2nd gear. I noticed this problem as soon as I put the shift linkage and bolted it in a couple of weeks ago. I remembered shifting through all the gears when it was on the ground at the junk yard and in my shed and they did so without any problem (though, now I'm second guessing those memories). I thought maybe with some gear oil and with the clutch released I'd be able to get in so I wasn't that worried since I checked it before I bought it. No such luck. I have 3,4,5, and R and they're really smooth. I went under the car, checked to see if the linkage was binding anywhere, it isn't. I checked the motor mounts, all good. I unbolted the linkage from the transmission and now I can't shift it into 1st or 2nd there with a screw driver. The shifter will let me go to where 1st and 2nd would be, but it won't let me fully engage, same thing with the linkage unbolted and with the screw driver.
I think I've ruled out all the external factors unless I'm missing something.
My $90 gamble on a junk yard gearbox is laughing in my face.
Any ideas from this lot to try before I go to the junk yard to get another transmission? 
Can you spin the input shaft (if you already dropped it) or put it in gear and rock the wheels a little? I would move it a little and try again before I wrote it off.
I haven't dropped it yet. I can drive it, I just have to start in 3rd.
Might be worth a shot to make sure that the bushings in the shifter and shift rod are okay. they can and will fail.
alot of info on the protege here http://www.clubprotege.com/forum/index.php
All the shift linkage bushings are new including the stabiliser bar bushings. I think I've ruled out the shift linkage as the problem, since I can't get it into first or second gear with a screwdriver from under the car with the linkage disconnected, but I can get it into all other gears with the screwdriver.
In reply to pitbull113:
Thanks, I'm on clubprotege, feoa, and imazda.
Did you turn the transmission in any way without having EVERYTHING put back together first?
I think if it's turned, there's a clip that falls out, and if i remember correctly, it'll lock out gears. I don't know the specifics.
But yes, this is internal. If the shifter was dropped, it would still shift, you'd just have to pull up first. If the lower tranny mount was fubar'd, it would lock out 4th. Not 1st and 2nd.
I think you're going to have to drop the transmission. Do that, crack the case, and see if there's anything rattling around. If there isn't, then try another tranny.
Good luck! The transmissions on these things are worthless. When i bought mine, i didn't have a 3rd or 4th gear. Replaced everything external, only to find that i still didn't have a 3rd or 4th gear. That was fun.
I hope this isn't relevant to your issues:
http://www.clubprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46348
In reply to 93celicaGT2:
That sounds like what probably happened. No worries, looks like I'll be tearing down and reinstalling that clip this weekend, if that doesn't work, off the the junk yard.
Yeah... at least these things are really easy to work on, yes? 
