I'm not really sure how to even go about this question so i'm gunna ramble on and hope you can decipher it.
When I put my new clutch in i realized how uhm open the clutch is, you can see the flywheel if you look closely between that thin sheet of metal and the bellhousing. also you can look inside where the slave is and literally see the clutch, there is also that grommet that allowed full access to the clutch.
Sooooo, what happens when some idiot..me..decides to go hammerin through the mud, will the clutch get coated? will it get ruined? will the slave cylinder get uhh 'fubar-ed'

Hopefully someone can understand my idiocracy and help me.

 

I don't think so. I've got a '90 F150 that I have put thru some pretty deep mud multiple times and I have never had any problems with the clutch, other than my foot slipping off the muddy clutch pedal.

 

Only if you park so long in mud so deep & runny that it flows up & into the bellhousing. And even then, it wouldn't have much effect, other than to cause rust & maybe some temporary chatter until it got cooked dry. Take a look at some of the mud-bogging videos & websites - plenty of those vehicles have clutches & vented bellhousings.

 

The 'mudhole' everyone goes to around here is basically like driving through a pond with some mud at the bottom, I'm also worried about how the air intake is at the grille and the water will probably be at like bumper level or maybe higher.

 

Then stay in the shallow end, or stay out completely. There's a lot more to fording than just raising the air intake. Mudding is a lot harder on a truck than most other kinds of off-roading. I grew up in SW Louisiana, and I never understood the attraction. I hate mud. Memphis is no better.

 

I would love to find some really thick mud thats not deep just to sling around, since the water is low right now I'm gunna hit it tonight but very slowly.
There's another place we might go to thats clay and coal dust mud but man do i hate cleaning that stuff off.

 

Don't let it dry on the underside of the truck. The paint will protect the top, so don't worry about that, but the bare metal below will rust.

 

Rust..The truck is 20 years old..
But I am going to wash it tomorrow after school, gotta leave er muddy for the first football game!

 

Mine is even older & doesn't have a speck of rust underneath. You can leave ALL mud on top for show, but wash the bottom.

 

Already done, the side of my truck now says I heart mud and mud digger real big.
The underside of my truck is fairly rust free, the frame is clean but the bed floor is rusty and has one small hole in it.