Do you know the order of the detents? Here is the order, study the image. I assume you have the intermediate plate on a vice. The picture of the parts assume you are standing with the input shaft(what goes into the pilot bearing) pointing toward your left hand. Vice mounted on the table, stand on each side, you will see what I mean. Your left hand should be able to hold the pilot shaft without crossing diagonally over your chest.
After you figure that out, there are three different types of detents.
-A Steel Ball; All Are The Same (Number In Picture 33275B)
-An Oval (Number In Picture 33264B)
-A Smaller Oval (This one will shift into the shift fork SHAFT ITSELF) (Number In Picture 33264)
I found that it will take a good amount of force to move the lever but it will depend if the balls are set properly as well. When I assembled my gearbox, I greased the shafts well with blue grease. I also did that to the detents and open ball bearings. The reason I did this was the keep everything from rusting after assembly so it could sit for months AND make it easy to shift when testing if the detents work.
Make sure all the detents are set correctly according to the picture. You can use some grease to actually hold the little oval piece in the shift fork shaft when installing it so it does not fall out. Assemble the gearbox and move the shifter to all the gears to make sure they all move freely. You should be able to engage 1st, disengage 1st, engage 2nd, disengage 2nd and so on without full assembly but incorrectly installed detents will cause it to be difficult to shift into a gear, selecting multiple gears and even cause you not to be able to even select a gear.
http://www.cygnusx1.net/Media/Supra/Library/EPC/Figures/MCG216.gif