As much as I hated to do it, I finally threw in the towel and took Mumbo to an actual clutch shop. What began back in October as a simple replacement of the Throwout Bearing has turned into a nightmare.
At the same time I replaced the TOB, I also installed a Centerforce clutch. The new clutch wouldn't release and I was forced to reinstall the OEM clutch which was actually still in good shape. We took Mumbo the following day up to the Rubicon with no issues at all.
In the weeks that followed, the clutch began to start acting just like the Centerforce clutch to the point where it too wouldn't release. At that point we suspected it was either the slave or the master cylinder and rather than trying to guess which, I opted to replace them both along with the line between the two ( note: you cannot buy the o-rings without buying the line), as well as the clutch/pressure plate assembly. Still no change. Spoke to a mechanic at the clutch shop and he suggested I pull it all apart yet again and have the flywheel resurfaced even though I was led to believe scuffing it with 180 grit sandpaper would be enough. I followed his advice and had it resurfaced and Lo and Behold.. The clutch still isn't releasing.
So I tossed in the towel and took it to the clutch shop yesterday and they are currently looking it over. He gave it a quick look lastnight while I was there and did say it was installed correctly and that he doubts there is any air in the system as I had it power bled to be sure. The JK's clutch system has no adjustments whatsoever. It acts like it would go right into gear if it had just a tiny bit more throw, but once it's actually rolling from a dead stop I can shift with the clutch just fine. But what really stumps me the most is that I can downshift all the way to first gear and stop at a light with the clutch pedal pushed in and the engine won't stall.