Clutch Replacement

["Robert Rooney" <dmcvegas@xxxx>]

Last week which driving home one night I ended up driving thru some 
pretty good flood water (6"-8") and everything seemed fine. About 3 
days later I heard a small squeak coming from the clutch area 
whenever I pressed the clutch pedal. 2 days ago I noticed that it was 
starting to seem like my car was losing power durring acceleration. 
But today on the way home for lunch it was the worst yet. Starting 
out from a complete stop the D is very slow, and if I take my foot 
completly off of the clutch there is only a slight change. The RPM's 
stay about the same and the car won't jerk forward even when I pop 
the clutch. The other symptom is while driving if I hit the 
accelerator down to the floor the speed doesn't increase immediately 
and the needle on the tach will shoot up. I don't know if this makes 
a differance but there are no unusual odors when I stop the car (no 
burning smell). My guess at this point is that obviously have a 
clutch problem, but I have a couple of questions:

1. Is it possible that water, dirt, or debris of some sort has gotten 
on the clutch plate and is preventing it from gripping properly?

2. If I do end up needing to replace the clutch, is there any easy 
way to accomplish this? (in other words is this something that I 
could do in my driveway)

3. Along with the clutch would it be advisable to replace the 
pressure plate as well?

4. When visually inspecting the clutch plate, pressure plate, etc..., 
what signs of wear/damage should I look for?

Thanks in advance!

-Robert
vin 6585

p.s. the clutch has always seemed a little hard, but I have the 
braided clutch line installed.