3 speed manual

if anyone has a factory service manual it should show pictures.

This is an external linkage shifter right? If so, there may be a misalignment of the netural gate of the shifter. My experience with those type shifters is they had an alignment hole/slot at the base of the shifter housing and holes in the shift levers where the linkage mounts to the shifter. You would put the trans in netural, disconnect the shift levers from the transmission end of the linkage, put a pin or drill bit in the alignment holes of the shifter and align the levers up to the trans. That would assure that your netural gate of the shifter was lined up to the netural of the trans.