Hi all
Just thought I would drop you guys a line and let you know what the problem was with this car.
I decided that a clutch replacement was a little beyond the scope of my ability and decided to take it to a mechanic that has worked on this car a few times in the past. It turns out that the problem was a wore out distributor. Why it would only do it in low gear and a bit in second is beyond me but thank god I didn't rip into the clutch and find out $500 later and days of my time that it wasn't the clutch at all.
anyways just thought I'd pass this along.
thanks again for the help
John