95 Spirit Trans problems

I was given the car and was told it had transmission problems.
Found out when i got it home it had a blown headgasket as well.
replaced the head gasket engine runs great.
It has a 3.0 the trans is 3 speed
When you put it in reverse there is a 30sec hesitation and shifts hard.
When you drop it down in low it acts as if you are holding the brake.
It will move no problem in D or 2 just not 1. The fluid and filter have been changed. Sometimes it is slow going at first. Any ideas what might be the problem?

I think the First Gear/Reverse Gear share some of the same components. I would try checking the bands first. There are two band adjustments, one on the outside and one on the inside that can be adjusted when the pan is off. These are supposed to be checked and adjusted every 30K miles or so.

well, like neon rt said, your low/reverse band is acting up. It's not completely broken b/c if it was, you'd have no reverse at all. Have you taken a look at your tranny fluid to see what color it is and what the level is? I believe you are suffering from cavitation, where there are air bubbles forming inside your transmission fluid.