replacing JUST the bearing retainer??

Sure your throwout bearing hasn't failed as well? A damaged TO bearing retainer will simply make the clutch harder to shift or stick. When my TO bearing failed recently, I had a metallic squeal all the time, which got worse when I put the clutch in.

You have to remove the tranny to replace the TO bearing and the TO bearing retainer. You can just disconnect the tranny from the bellhousing and leave the clutch/pressure plate/bellhousing in place. But yes, you have to remove the tranny.

You will likely find more damage once you take everything apart. My bad TO bearing ground grooves into the pressure plate fingers and shaved a bit of metal off of my clutch fork. In my case, the clutch fork was still good enough but I replaced the pressure plate to be safe.

Here's a great clutch swap thread: http://forums.stangnet.com/707250-86-95-5-0l-clutch-swap-help.html Be sure to check out my post at the bottom, there is a seal you need to buy if you are replacing the TO bearing retainer. You can't pull it from the old one, it must be bought new.