hmm, well im not sure on this but i'll try... have you tried bleeding the clutch fluid?(i think its brake fluid, just read up on that part) if not you should try that, make sure to have the fluid(again, i think its brake fluid, might be DOT4, but im not sure, check that too) so it doesnt empty out then u have quite a bit of air in the lines, so have someone press and release clutch and you watch fluid levels until u see no spurting and is just a stream of fluid coming out...

it might have to be aligned a little differently then a stock one, but im not sure on that so someone correct me if im wrong

and about the backwards thing, does the car move? or not? cause if it does move i dont think you have it in backwards... http://img284.echo.cx/my.php?image=clutch9tf.png

i think in the red is the front of the clutch so that part circled in red should be facing the tranny when installed? again someone can correct me on that lol

ive never done a clutch install before, but i am planning to over summer.