OK, I made it work. Damn, what a PITA to bleed the system.
First, a gripe. Is it really so hard to design a hydraulic system such that, always, the fluid runs downhill, and the system would AUTOMATICALLY bleed? I had a '63 VW bug, and the front brakes were designed this way. Air in the line, no problem, just keep pumping the brakes and all the air fed into the master cyl.
Now, the way I HAD to do it.
Remove the M/C from the firewall (break the little plastic retaining clip between the pedal and the push rod) risk breaking the clutch safety switch. (1 hour.)
Hang the system (sans slave cyl) from a poll such that everything runs downhill, and tap the line for a while working any air up the line, and then press the pushrod until all the air bubbles out and the push rod no longer seems to move. (5 minutes.)
Reinstall the M/C and line back into the truck, temporarily loosing the little plastic sleeve over the quick disconnect to the slave cylinder and stressing it broke. NP, found it all was OK. (1 more hour.)
Drive another car to the Ford dealer and buy another plastic clippie for the pedal to push rod. (1 day, $3.25.) By the way, I got the last one in Bellingham WA. so if you need one from them, sorry.
Overall working time, 2 hours. Overall down time 2 days.
This could have been a simple 5 minute job with just a little design foresight.
Mark.