ok, i am hearing that whirring/clacking noise only when the clutch is engaged (pedal up) and it is silent when disengaged (pedal Down). all signs point to input shaft bearing. so I'm looking at how to take the transmission out, and it seems pretty easy for me to remove. i am a pretty good diyer and have seen the write up how to remove it and it is definitely something i can do easily. remove the air intake, cv axles, starter, exhaust, crossmember and transmission mount. but the thing i am wondering is removing all the input shaft gears to get to the input shaft bearing thats making noise. do i have to shim that bearing or can i just put it in, and also i saw in a write up that in one picture you can see the input shaft bearing and in the next it was gone, as in that it was attached to the input shaft and not the housing. so how would i remove it from the input shaft?

experienced members chime in please?