ok, so i'm kinda committed to some extent here,
so i went ahead and ordered up a new gasket & seal kit, a new pinion nut w/star washer, and the twin stick shift rails w/new balls, springs, roll pins and detent pressure adjusters. Bronco graveyard had the best prices.
didn't get time to mess with the case today, but did get all the internals and bearings cleaned in a naptha bath and inspected.
the bearing i thought looked like it had rust on it was just discolored gooey old lube, it's fine. even the tail housing came pretty clean inside. i think it's all good enough to reuse, no signs of hard wear. hell, the guts look like new parts now.
the aluminum seal retainers are oxidized and kinda look like poo, gonna see what a wire wheel does for the finish.
i'll try and get a few pics tomrw