All of this and I still can't shift into first., Pemisssion to shoot myself, sir! Options

[r3dplanet]

If it it were possible to strangle myself I would have done it.

Over the past couple of months I've been trying to put my car back together. It came to me a long-term project but its slowly turning into something great.

Over the past week I've been driving it around and its really getting close now.

Except for the part where it's merciless to shift. Specifically, its a little hard to shift into just about any gear (enough to create a blister after one day of around town driving). But the main problem is that I can't get it to shift into first gear unless I nudge the car in another gear prior. For example, coming to a stop in second and shifting into first when the car has almost zero speed. Sometimes at a stop light I can shift into reverse or second and then into first, but this only works 50% of the time. Plus, I'm nervous as hell about keeping my foot on the clutch at red lights because I imagine the clutch cable snapping right then and there.

This is what I've done in the Great Do-Over of The Past Year as far as related work goes:

(1) A Dr. Evil transmission rebuild clinic + bonus ring gear reversal after the fact.
(2) A full Jwest Engineering linkage replacement including the linkage at shift console along with new bushings, u-joints, and what-not. All of this seems very smooth to me.
(3) a Rennshift sport shifter
(4) new engine mounts
(5) new transmission mounts from Wevo
(6) new clutch cable
(7) proper clutch adjust. Free play at the pedal a bit over an inch before it begins to engage.

The clutch tube seems intact. When the girlfriend pushes the clutch pedal the tube doesn't move. It's a little crappy looking at the body but it certainly seems to be intact.

I'm not sure if its the clutch itself. I doesn't slip out of gear and it pulls really well once in gear. No scorched potholder smell.

I've been all over the place with shifter adjustment. I'm pretty happy with the adjustment in that I can adjust it too far forward or aft, and it seems to be happy where it is. Reverse and fifth are the easiest gears to get in to. Apologies for ending the previous sentence with a preposition.

One other thing, the hotter the car and the day become, the harder it is to shift into any particular gear. Fourth gear becomes the hardest after first.

I've searched around in the forums but it seems like I've already done what I'm supposed to do in comparing my case to others. Maybe my car demands further sacrifice of some sort.

I'm all f-ing ears if anyone has some solid ideas for me. The car is staying put until I can crack this.

Thanks,
Marcus