I had mine replaced by a clutch "specialist", I did the same thing, bought clutch kit and had them install it. They were the ONLY place I found that would give a warrenty on the work also. All be it for only 6 motnhs, but that was better then nothing. If you can find a shop that will give you warrenty, go there. But MOST will not (if you buy your clutch yourself that is).
It took them 9 1/2 hours to do it = $650 in labour. It's not easy. Honestly though, I believe that a "specialist" should have been able to do it alot quicker then 9 1/2 hours. So take that as the worst! (Ford's book time for a clutch job is 9 hours.)
A CEG'er called Dustyn had his tranny off in 4 1/2 hours I think he said it took. That's with 2 guys helping him also.
You basically have to drop the subframe to get the tranny off, removal of the transaxle etc so yes the entire "transmission" has to be removed.
All depends on your budget. At the time I had mine replaced, I was on a tight one too so I only got a "slightly" better clutch kit installed, Grizzly OEM from Spmotorsports.com $300. It's not bad, never had any problems with it. Feels good, grabs a little harder then stock. Now I am swapping my engine out with an SVT one I'm going to get a better clutch again. I think I have decided on the RAM Power Grip HD Clutch. For $360 and has a great reputation with the Mustang group so it can't be bad. (I can't see myself spending $500-600 on a clutch that will be too hard to drive as a daily, I don't go to the drags THAT much).
Good luck with it all.
