Clutch cable question

So I'm still not happy with my clutch pedal feel. I put a new auto-tensioning clutch in and it felt great, but I couldn't ge the tranny in gear when the car was running. I didn't seem to be pulling the lever up enough. Then I went to the manual adjust cable which works (I can engage/disengage the gears) but the pedal feel is crap. The cable is much shorter and I had to run it under the intake boot instead of over it. It has to make a bend it the end that I think is causing the pedal feel problem because it is not a straight shot to the lever. Is there a longer manual adjust cable that I can use? Should I look at the throwout bearing a lever arm to see if they need replacement? what's the concensus...