Ford 4500 engine rebuild - now Clutch problems

I had the 3 cyl Diesel engine rebuilt on my 1971 Ford 4500 TLB and installed it last Nov. Since then and while I had it apart I have been working on the hydraulics and rebuilt a few cylinders and hyd pump.
I finally got it all back together and the hydraulics appear to work fine, but I can’t get it into gear as it grinds and it doesn’t appear like the clutch is releasing. (I know I should have tried that when I first reinstalled the engine and started it, but the hydraulic were apart so the tractor couldn’t be moved)

It has the original pressure plate and 13” organic clutch disc. The pressure plate was inspected and regreased and the clutch disc was resurfaced both at a Clutch shop so I assume they are good.
The release bearing was cleaned and regreased and looked good.
The lever for the release bearing cross shaft has about 2.5 inches of play in it. You can easily move it by hand. When you push it forward which moves the releasing bearing backwards towards the transmission it will “bottom out” with a metallic tink sound. When you move the lever backwards to bring the releasing bearing forward in to the pressure plate it makes more of a dull thud sound and stops. It won’t move beyond that point as I would expect it to meet resistance from the pressure plate as it is pushed in to release the clutch disc.
Any ideas as what might be wrong? Is 2.5 inches of play in that shaft lever typical? Thanks for any help you can give.

If you moving the lever on the cross shaft when in contacts the pressure plate levers you won't be able to move it any farther, there's to much spring pressure on the plate to move the fingers by hand.
How much free travel do you have at the pedal? You should have the linkage adjusted for 1 -1 1/2" of pedal free travel.
If the pedal is adjusted properly the clutch should work, if not ether the disc is stuck to the flywheel for some reason or it was installed backwards.

(quoted from post at 16:12:31 11/14/17)
If you moving the lever on the cross shaft when in contacts the pressure plate levers you won't be able to move it any farther, there's to much spring pressure on the plate to move the fingers by hand.
How much free travel do you have at the pedal? You should have the linkage adjusted for 1 -1 1/2" of pedal free travel.
If the pedal is adjusted properly the clutch should work, if not ether the disc is stuck to the flywheel for some reason or it was installed backwards.

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Thanks, I think I have the problem resolved and your mentioned of pedal Freeplay pointed me in the right direction. I checked the Freeplay which was about 1”, but that led me to think about the total pedal travel especially down to disengage the clutch.
I had changed out the left side running board from another 4500 and the newer running board (looks like an aftermarket and maybe not originally for a 4500 as it is short) had a welded on clutch pedal stop which prevented the pedal from being fully depressed. I removed the running board and now with the additional 1/2” to 3/4” of travel the clutch is released and the transmission can be put in to gear and the tractor moved.

Glad you found it and thanks for posting back.

Funny you should mention the running board, I think it was a year model change but Ford used a couple different clutch pedals, I installed a set of wider 3930 running boards on my 4500 and ran into issues with the pedal. Don't remember what I had to do to get things working properly.