You don't need to remove the governor or the distributor - in fact, it would be better if you didn't, so you don't have to worry about getting the governor back in correct time.
I do recommend taking the hood off (despite the additional work that can engender
). I don't remember if the alternator has to be moved. If it does, you won't have to remove it altogether, just loosen it up, slip the belt off, and swing it to the outside to get it out of the way.
You shouldn't really need a service manual for this task, but if you want to peruse one, it will be one of the one's under the "blue ribbon service manuals" link on the manual site.
To remove the hood, take off the air cleaner cap and the gas cap, loosen four bolts (7/16 - they do not have to come all the way out, just enought to slip the grill off) on the doglegs to remove the grille, remove one bolts (1/2) on either side of the radiator at the top of the side supports, remove the two screws at the top of each dogleg, and the four bolts (7/16 again) securing the gas tank to the top of the dash. I usually unclip the starter rod from the switch so I can slide it out of the way to remove the rightmost of the dash bolts so I don't inadvertently "bump" the starter over. It's easier to have two people, one on each end (or each side) of the hood to remove it, but if the gas tank is empty or nearly so, one person can handle it.
Once you have the hood off, you will see the lever (actually a bell-crank) that the speed control links to. There will be a spring attached to the other arm of the lever. Pull the cotter pin from the end of the speed control rod, and the cotter pin (I think it's held on by a cotter pin - it's been a while since I had to do this to mine) from the spindle holding the lever, then dose it with your favorite penetrating oil. Let it sit a bit, then tap gently on one end of the lever to try to get it to rotate around the spindle. If it doesn't rotate right away, dose it again, and let it sit a while. Repeat as necessary, until the lever starts to move (this may take a few days). Once it starts to move, you can start to persuade it to slide off the spindle. You should be able to get enough slack in the spring that you can slide it off without disconnecting the spring first. It is a very stiff little bugger!
Once you have the lever off the spindle, as the others suggested, clean off the spindle and the pivot hole in the lever (I think I was able to use a battery cable brush), slather the spindle with grease, reattach the spring (very important to do it now, as I said, she is the very devil to try to connect when the lever is already on the spindle, and slide the lever back on.
As they say in the British shop manuals, from here "reassembly is the reverse of disassembly.
Break a leg, and let us know how you get on.