I'm not sure where to post this, but i'm having some issues, but the strange thing is it's NOT the engine. i've just completed physically building my engine (all the goods listed in the sig) and now i am just trying to start it. on to the problems. My starter will keep turning over after i take the key out. i thought it was the solenoid on the fender, but as soon as i put the new replacement solenoid in, it does the same exact thing. it's also a fresh reman starter. the only thing that's old is the battery. even the starter wire is new. but almost faithfully, as soon as i turn the key, the starter will keep on trucking until you slap the *new* solenoid with a wrench, or a fist.

second, my transmission is kinda messed up. it is stuck in between gears. it's not in neutral, because the starter moves the car. but i can't take the trans out of whatever gear it's in. Yes, i am using the clutch, and when the clutch pedal is being applied, the clutch acts as it should, letting the engine rotate freely, but the trans still can shift anywhere. believe me, I have tried to go over all the stupid things over and over. but for some reason it's in this "twilight zone" either in gear or tweaked or something. this has actually happened before the engine rebuild, but it's always fixed itself as soon as i gave up on it.
the last time, i revved the engine pretty high, and dropped the clutch, while putting all my weight on the shifter into 2nd. I have no idea how it fixed it, or why, but hey. also, it seems to happen on hills. but then again, it'd have no reason to do this if it has been sitting on the garage floor for 10 months. any help, or simple "Yeah me too" stories would help, just to let me know i don't have the worst trans in the world.

 

I bought a used Mustang once that came with an aftermarket voltage regulator mounted on the right fender, like stock. The regulator had a slot for a fuse that was left out. One day I decided to install a fuse, thinking there probably should be one. That's when my starter remained engaged after cranking. I took out the fuse, and it behaved normally again. I never figured out what was happening with that circuit.

Most manual transmissions have teeth and detentes in the shift mechanisms to allow only one gear to be engaged at a time, and you can not move into neutral without disengaging it. It's possible that your transmission linkages are so worn out that the slop has allowed some combination of shift positions that aren't supposed to be.

If it has external linkages, disconnect them and actuate the shift arms on the transmission by hand to push them all into the neutral position. Then try to reinstall the linkages using whatever adjustment mechanism there are. Usually, you line up the little arms on the bottom of the shifter by sticking a 1/4" rod through a hole in the shifter frame and all the arms, then adjust the rods to fit. But if the shifter mechanism, rod ends or the holes that the rods go into are too worn, this may not help much.

If you have an internal shifter, then it's possible you bent or broke part of the shift rail or a shift fork. I've never gotten into one of those before, so I can't provide any useful information on them.