Clutch issue

To make a long story much much shorter, I had the starter idler gear lose some teeth, so I had to take the rear end of the engine apart to replace it. Got it back to gether and it was running great, ended up with some carb issues, so they were on and off a couple times. Finally back together and the clutch handle is rock hard. I changed it out with a brand new master cylinder assembly. I can not get the lever to move in and disengage the clutch. I removed the cylinder at the rear of the clutch cover and made sure that it moved as advertised. Reassembled and stuck with the same issue. Please please help me out!! I really don't want yo drop the engine again.. thanks in advance!

To add, the clutch lever and slave cylinder work as advertised while not installed. And if I loosen the 3 bolts that hold it to the clutch housing I can see and feel the actuation of the cylinder. But once it's tightened back down the handle it rock hard and barely moves. I did attempt to start and run while on a stand, it shifted into first and second without the clutch. And the handle never disengaged the clutch.