Fiat Punto SX 1108cc petrol (UK 'M' plate). Hydraulic clutch actuation.

It's my father's car, but I first noticed this problem while driving it a
week or so ago. I'm aware of the 'notchy' first gear issues with Puntos and
although I'd noticed it with this car, it wasn't much of a problem. But then
it started to get worse quite quickly, and then second became harder to get
too, and then harder still (pedal to the floor, pull hard on the shifter),
and then I started grinding third a couple of times going up the 'box.

Then my father had problems getting reverse too - rattling the teeth despite
having his foot to the floor. And finally today, first and second suddenly
became completely unobtainable while driving through town, with all the other
gears becoming somewhat 'occasional'. He got home attended by the distinct
aroma of burning clutch, having had to slip it like mad to make progress in
heavy traffic...

Googling through alt.autos.fiat, I came across a post describing a similar
problem which was traced to the clutch release bearing wearing a groove in
the pressure plate springs, with several eventually breaking completely. This
does sound like our problem, although earlier posts in the thread also
described nasty noises and pedal vibration, none of which we're experiencing.
I *think* I could hear a slight release-bearing-like squeak going on and
coming off the clutch, but it was very quiet and my father's hearing isn't
good enough to confirm this... (-:

I measured the cutch pedal travel yesterday as roughly 120mm from the centre
of the pedal (measured to a datum on the back of the steering wheel).

So, anyone recognise the symptoms? My parents live in a rural area and this
is their sole car, so we don't want to do anything more than absolutely
required to fix the problem - we don't want to split engine and 'box if a fix
or adjustment can be made from outside the bellhousing, for instance.

How easy is a clutch change in a Punto, given that it looks like the family
mechanic (me, in other words) is going to end up spending some of his festive
season crawling around on the driveway doing it?

TIA. (-:

PJ - considering lending his father his Cobra as temporary transport... (-: