'88 RR Classic Clutch Problem

g'day all

my first post on this forum, please be gentle with me !

ok so i bought an '88 RR Classic Highline 3.5v8 EFI 5spd for the 'bargain' price of au$1850, sight unseen on ebay from sydney, which is 1000+km north of me. turning out to be surprisingly good i put a new battery on it and drove home, no worries !
i've spent a month or so renewing brakes/tyres and fixing mercifully few small glitches around the car.
one problem remains........the clutch !
the symptoms are exactly the same now as they were when i bought it, despite renewing seals in the master and slave cylinders and adjusting at the pedal.
the pedal feels like it is doing nothing until about an inch before the floor and then fully dis-engages the clutch within that last inch. this leads to an awfully 'snappy' re-engagement as there is such narrow and low bite point. on-road gear changes are all smooth provided allowance is made for the bite point,though it is possible to get a graunch selecting reverse at rest if the pedal is not very deliberately taken down to its fullest stroke.
when the slave is removed the clutch push rod seems to move easily and smoothly without anything that might indicate a broken fork. the travel distance required for the release bearing to touch the clutch plate does seem long though, longer than the slave would have travel ?
bleeding from the slave nipple produces a good flow so i must presume master is working ok and that the pipe and flexible hose are free of any obstuction.
i have read elsewhere that the slave inlet should ideally be above the bleed nipple to aid the self bleeding process but confimed my vehicle's current arrangement of the nipple being the higher of the two from the rave documentation, although this only shows the latter day 380 g/box arrangement
i have pored over forums world wide looking for the 'same' problem but so far none of the symptoms have exactly matched mine.
i realise that he clutch may be well worn but it does 'feel' as if its functional enough and that if only the bite point could be raised to an acceptable height then it's drivability would improve greatly.
if any owners who have had a problem like this could give the benefit of their advice i would be most grateful.

cheers
pomonastik

Change the clutch plate complete with pressure plate (probably got a few weak/broken springs) and don't forget the thrust race.

thanks. (ouch)
pomonastik

despite this being my first land rover product and the no doubt accurate advice given by "tervueren" that is as simple as the clutch is worn out i resolved that as it wasn't actually broken and i can't afford to fix it at the moment i thought i'd better 'have a go' anyway.

so i popped the slave cylinder out and checked its action by having the good lady work the clutch pedal a few times while i held a screwy against the piston. lining a few things up by eye told me that it was only doing anything useful at the furthest extent of the piston travel and as tervueren suggests there is only release of the clutch at the last moment of swing in the lever due to the wear.
back to the shed and i found one of those cheap & nasty sets of varied power tool bits contained a selection of mini sockets on stubby 1/4" hex shafts about 40mm long overall (like those that click straight into cordless drivers). the 8mm size slid firmly over the end of the rod and the shaft emulates the rod tip, just about 30mm longer overall, allowing for the depth of the socket.
i whacked it all back together and, hey presto, the clutch now bites at approx half travel of the pedal. i'm not saying its any less of an on/off clutch but the increased upward pedal travel before the bite does allow a modicum more control and finesse to be excercised in its operation and there isn't a hint of clash in selecting any gear, including reverse, at rest.
i'm pretty pleased with myself if nothing else!

obviuosly i'm due for a new clutch but the sheer size of the bell housing/gearbox/transfer case assembly is a bit daunting for the gum-tree garage facilities. no four post ramps and flash transmission jacks around here!
i know from tales of old that series owners can just unbolt various bits of floor and hoik the lot back a few inches held up by wooden spars across the chassis. is there a similar process possible on the range rover i wonder? without the ease of top access of course. if so can it be done without tilting the engine ?