So i was switching my fork the other day and now i think i did something stupid. I do not have my bicycle maintenance experience and was feeling ambitions. i got a new frame in the mail and was starting to switch my components onto my new frame. I had a hard time getting my fork off to begin with, which i felt stupid asking help from my LBS. I had the stem loosened and all the cables removed and the fork wouldn't come off! turns out i just needed to poke at something a little harder and it slid right off. first problem solved. now, i was putting a different fork onto my old frame. as i was doing this, a ring of ball bearings fell from the bottom of my headset. I grabbed them quickly, and luckilly i did not loose any ball bearings. i cleaned the dirt from the piece, added some grease, and reassembled my headset. Now here is where the problem began. I put my original fork on my old frame, and it doesn't fit! i cant seem to get the spacers right to make it level with the top cap and there is some play in it too. i can wiggle it basically. did i reassemble my headset incorrectly? do i need more risers to make it level with my top cap to reduce the wiggling? should i just go to my LBS and give up? i am trying to learn more about how my bicycle works. it is a long and hard process. any and all input would be appreciated. thanks in advance and happy trails!

old frame? new frame? (what are they)

so... you took your original bike apart and the headset ball bearings fell out so you put everything (original fork and frame) back together and now they dont seem to fit?
possible to give us some pix? my advice is dont sit on the bike or you will break the headset

Sounds like you left the crown race on the old fork. It's a ring of metal that's a part of the headset, but it's pressed on to the fork and rests at the bottom of the steerer tube.

ditto the post above.
that's about all it could be...

Don't mess around w/ your headset if you don't know what you're doing.

Major Crash hazard very likely...

The top cap is there for a purpose. It tightens all the spacers & the stem
down onto the lower bearing race. Leave the stem kinda loose until you
tighten down the top cap (20lb/in2).

the crown race eh? i'll look into it. i am not riding the bike with headset problems right now. i know better than that... but for those who were wondering the new frame is a stumpjumper and the old frame is a hardrock. boo ya! thanks so much for the input guys. much appreciated!

Yeah, make sure you have a crown race on there Also, you want about a 3 mm gap between the top of the steerer and the top of the stem. If it is flush, you will go to preload the bearings via the top cap, and it ain't going to tighten at all.