Think I've got this licked.

I stopped by STiPWRD's house to loan him my airlift coolant fill tool (awesome btw). I was able to check his pedal out and the feel of the clutch fork at rest. He ultimately made a solid suggestion that the air powered bleeding tool I was using may be pulling air from around the threads. I switched to a hand powered vacuum bleeder and repeated all of the regular steps. The pedal feel improved dramatically but still wasn't where it needed to be. I decided to really put a lot of pre-load on the master cylinder by unscrewing the clevis attachment almost all the way out. I used a screwdriver to connect the two and re-bled. That was the ticket. It now feels excellent and allows me to shift through the gears.

I did back off the pre-load a few threads before working the clevis back through the hole. I estimate that the master cylinder u joint is ~75% past the clutch pedal hole - for future builders, that's the amount of pre-load I have on my clutch pedal.

Anyone else confirm how much pre-load they have as being similar/more/less?

Glad I loaned a tool to another 818 builder. Ultimately helped me fix a stuck point.