I've recently acquired and began installing the ATS FD into my R tranny before putting it into my EK hatch. Replacing the final drive on the differential was fairly easy and I did that before I went and tackled the countershaft. I do have a Helm's manual, and have been following that precisely. My to the Helm's manuals. I installed the distance collar, needle bearings and jdm 1st gear and proceeded to put on the rest of the gear assemblies as instructed. My question is, how 'tight' should the 1st gear be when you try turning it? Moving the synchro's around to see how free all the gears spin, 1st gear is noticeably, almost 2x as 'tight' as the rest of them. Is this an issue? I'm seeking your advice on the matter as I'm tempted to put it all back together and see how it works, or if it would be wise for me to just replace alot of the parts and wait for the time being for them to arrive.

How tight should the 1st gear be in comparison to everything else? Most of the times, it rotates around the needle bearings without turning the collar, however sometimes it is fairly tight and turns the collar for sometime before breaking free and rotating around the needle bearings. Is 1st gear supposed to be this tight?

 

Any advice? please?