Seems to me that the reason it's a bit difficult to take off and shift in the lower gears smoothly is that the takeup range -- the engagement range -- of the clutch is too short, giving an abrupt engagement.

And it seems to me that a possibly easy solution would be to fit a smaller diameter master cylinder or a larger diameter slave cylinder. This would give a longer takeup range.

Any thoughts?

 

The clutch peddle is way to long, I understand what you are saying.
In drag racing, this is a major problem. My thinking would be 3 inches max movement. I working on this problem as we speak. And you here all the guys here over driving there engines on the strip. Great post!!

A direct linkage would be the only fix.

 

Why direct linkage? With hydraulic, by fiddling with the cyl ratios, you can get as much or as little engagement range as you want.