I have only put a clutch in one front wheel drive car. It failed in front of the truck shop I worked at and that's where it was brought to. Anyway, the clutch disc exploded and put a lot of side loading on the input shaft. This car exhibit similar issues to yours. The shift lever felt terrible until the unit was removed from the machine. Maybe your input shaft isn't lined up well or there is something wrong with that bearing. Pull it out. We make mistakes 🙂