That was me. I was about two minutes away from cutting the bellhousing in half. I took it off using the pressure plate bolts. I would have NEVER gotten that shaft out.
As far as the c clip on the release bearing I just destroyed it. Are you re-using the pressure plate??? I would not recomend you do that but if money is really tight then I guess you can try. DO NOT under any circumstances re-use the bearing. I would like to point out my pressure plate photos just so you can see what can happen (Very rare mind you)
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?threadid=166466