Another thing to consider is whether the pilot bearing may be gummed up or defective. A defective or damaged pilot bearing can give symptoms nearly identical to a dragging clutch and one of the two sounds like a 100% match to your symptoms.
If it is not that here is a rough list of what you will need for a full rebuild.
rebuild kit (this spring I was told they are around $380 but that may have changed up or down since then)
fluid (GL3 or yellow metal safe GL5, or full syn 10w30)
red RTV
regular tools
shop press (you can kind of get away without this if you're clever and have a stack of stuff to use as long drivers, and also don't mind putting transmission parts in your freezer and kitchen oven)
autozone steering wheel and gear puller set with the pile of bolts and the kind of chickenfoot shaped forging (great for pulling 5th gear synchro hub)
a certain size of torx bit for a few of the detent ball cover setscrews, can't recall what size
10mm allen bit
whatever huge size hex fits the two shifter return spring assemblies
10mm, 12mm(?), 14mm 6 point sockets
lockring pliers
I use a 5 gallon pail full of gasoline for dissolving the really nasty heavy grease and gunk buildup and then a few harbor freight wire brushes to scrub stuff off.
quart of acetone and a chemical sprayer bottle from home depot to post-wash cleaned parts so that the gasoline won't screw up any RTV you try and use on it
deadblow mallet
some axle grease to stick bearings in place while assembling things that hold them in
blue loctite
razor scraper and a few new blades
seal puller/ripper
it has been a few years now but I think that's all the really specific stuff. Most of the rest is just general tools. It is certainly much easier if you have a shop press but I did without. The only thing I remotely needed a press for IIRC was the input bearing which I solved by placing the bearing in the kitchen oven at 170F preheat while the input shaft sat in the freezer, once they were both at a stable temperature I simply slid them together. Getting the old bearing off was actually harder, I can't recall exactly how I did it.
There are a few parts that need to be put on carefully.
- make sure you note where each lock ring came off. They are ground to thickness for a select-fit and you can't break them or you'll need to buy new.
- the fourth gear (usually, but not always) synchro ring feels identical to the other two (3rd, 4th, 5th are dimensionally almost identical, two actually are identical) but if you look closely the dog teeth on it are tipped at a different angle from the other two synchros. This is to improve either upshifts or downshifts to/from that gear and I can't recall which. Inspect the matching synchro collar and the synchros as you take it apart and remember where it goes and which way the collar faces, the "different" synchro collar teeth need to face the "different" synchro ring.
- speaking of this, the 5th gear synchro collar is only machined with dog teeth on one side because it only engages one synchro, so make sure you put it on facing the synchro because it will NOT shift well if you put it on facing the wrong way, which is totally possible.
- there is a ball bearing and a conical spacer between the countershaft midplate bearing and the 5th gear synchro hub that keeps them far enough apart but without interfering with the midplate bearing (thus why it's conical.) Make sure you catch the ball bearing when you take it apart and reinstall it on the way back together, make sure the conical spacer faces the same way it did when you took it apart too.
- it's easy to mung up the threaded holes in the shift rails trying to get the little bolts back in that hold the forks and stuff on. Make sure you get the bolts going perfectly straight before screwing them in. Use blue loctite on these, too.
- the 10mm allen plug in the tailhousing that covers the shifter slide rod end is easily removed... the shifter slide rod less so. Use needlenose pliers with duct tape or rubber hose over the tips so you don't mar the shaft, it gets slid out the back of the tailhousing through the hole after removing the 10mm allen.
- when you remove the shift rail detent spring+ball retention setscrews the springs WILL want to go SPROING into the dust under your bench so just be ready for em. They're not super enthusiastic about it or anything just don't be caught by surprise. There's a ball bearing under each and you need those too.
As long as you have a backup vehicle to go get things you forgot (I'm sure this list isn't complete) you will be fine, it's a very simple transmission really. If you weren't 1000 miles away I'd say toss it in the trunk and swing on by, they're a great intro to manual transmission rebuilding but it definitely wouldn't hurt to have an experienced person nearby to help if you get yourself in a bind.
