[aa909]

Thought I'd close the loop on this. So I replaced the clutch slave and used a power bleeder to bleed the slave cylinder... twice! And only moderate improvement... then we checked the clutch peddle, and it was sitting about an inch low and found that the nut behind the peddle had come loose and the rod had slowly worked its way down over the past several hundred miles. So the travel in the clutch peddle was short and I wasn't getting full disengagement of the clutch when I depressed the peddle.

I turned the rod until the peddle came back into proper position and now it shifts like butter! No clutch issues, no shifter issues, no hydraulic issues, just a freaking loose 13mm nut LOL!

Thought I'd share my experience as it may help others here.