I am with those who belive that the disk may be in backwards.
Also, what is your free travel on the pedal? It should be someewhere between 1/2 and 1 inch.
Take your hand and push the pedal down until you feel the release bearing contact the fingers on the pressure plate and give a serious resistance.
If you are using the same clutch, pressure plate, release bearing, fork and bellhousing that you used before you shouldn't have a problem.
If the flywheel you are using now has been surfaced more than just a little and the disk is in backwards the disk will come into contact with the flywheel bolt heads more easily than it did before.
The only other thing that hasn't been mentioned is the possibility of a severely warped disk due to allowing the weight of the transmission hang on it. That doesn't happen often but it can happen. usually the result is clutch that grabs a bit when being applied because it isn't making contact smoothly.
