On my 72 240 the throw out bearing started barking like a dog when i let the clutch out in first gear and seems to be progressively getting worse over the last three days. I am going to change the whole clutch this weekend but I also noticed tonight that the tranny seems to want to grind some what between gears and I have a slight whine in third gear. Could this also be related to the bearing or should I go ahead and start looking for a 5 speed now because my 4 speed is going south and getting ready to leave me walking home

I would think the grinding would be caused by the throw-out not letting the clutch fully release, so you're getting some residual spin, causing the grind.

As for the third-gear whine... I don't think that would be related...