Clutch fork won't clip back in.

I am going to venture to guess that the higher pedal pressure is normal for this Borg&Beck. They are inherently higher pedal pressure designs; the Mopars had overcenter clutch springs up at the pedal to provide a form of 'clutch assistance' for the Borg&Beck pressure plates. RAM has this same info on their website about B&B's; see here at the bottom of the page:
http://www.ramclutches.com/pressureplates.html
It advises that you may have to strengthen the linkages. So that may be your issue for the bending and the higher force. Do you have the overcenter spring installed? Did you convert from a diaphragm type pressure plate? Those require lower pressure in general.

As far as the failure to release the pedal:
- Was the trans weight 'hung' on the splines for any length of time when being installed, or did it twist downward any? The clutch hub can be bent when this happens and clutch disengagement problems will follow. (But you would still see a gap open up.)
- I have seen B&B plates needing a longer throw to disengage than a diaphragm type; I had to adjust it with very little TO bearing to finger clearance. So you may just be fighting that.
- Wear in the linkage parts can result in less total available throw. If anything is shifting sideways with pedal motion, check there. (And if the z-bar arms are of different lengths and if it can be installed backwards, that will change the throw.)
- Check here at Brewer's for a lot of application info regarding you car to see if the parts are right, like the fork length and the pivot:
http://www.brewersperformance.com/products.asp?cat=102

At this point, I would tighten up the linkage, to the point where the clutch will just barely release, and then see how much play there is in the TO bearing and linkage when released;if there is none and the TO bearing is tight against the fingers with the pedal fully up, then you have fork length or pivot issue, the clutch/PP is not going to work for your combo, or there is a problem with the parts.

BTW what model/Part number of RAM clutch did you get?

Also see if the clutch pedal is returning fully up and not hanging on the pedal shaft or anything up there. A properly installed overcenter spring will help pull it fully up.

Also, do you have an anti-rattle spring installed in parallel with the fork rod? There should be one there, to pull the TO bearing off of the fingers; it should attach between the fork near the fork rod hole (see that little notch on the fork's edge?) and to a hole in the block or bell housing at the other end. This spring is there to positively pull the TO bearing off of the fingers/diaphragm. It is typically about 1/2" or 5/8" diameter with a maybe 2-3" long inches long coil with long ends and fairly thin wire; it can be fairly light and do it's job. You can pick up substitutes at many auto parts or hardware stores over here.