Thanks for all the responses! I'm pretty sure the clutch kit is the correct one as I had ordered this from Phil (may he RIP) and he pulled the parts using my VIN. The only part I didn't get from Phil was the slave cylinder, which I just bought from the local NAPA for convenience as I needed the car to be on the road.

I am quite sure I completely bled all the air out of the clutch system, as my pedal is firm and had good feedback following the installation of the slave (I used an 80ml vet syringe hooked up to the clutch slave bleed screw to push fresh fluid up). I've used this method on other brake/clutche jobs and never had a problem.

However, I'm totally confused as to why MB has several iterations of clutch master cylinder pushrods and even from what it sounds like slave cylinders.

I think my only option now is to put in a new clutch m/c, slave & pushrod to hopefully rule these out before pulling the trans out. Unless anyone else thinks of another strategy. Thanks!