Seems like the Chilton flat rate manual used to rate an engine R&R at about 10 labor hours, just for the pull and put back functions. Any other repairs past that would be extra.
Once on the engine stand, then you'd need to remove the oil pan to get to the rear main and seal. Another labor hour or so for that, plus parts.
Once you get the rear main bearing off, you can check its condition and use PlastiGage to check the bearing clearance. Expect to see some scratches and wear spots, but also consider how long it took for them to happen.
Least expensive? Just do the minimum, as mentioned above. Otherwise, you'll be looking at a "turned-down" crank with undersize journals and need appropriate bearings, even for the rods too. Or have yours done that way. That would be "least expensive +1. If you want to do something, take the balancer and front cover off and install either a Mopar Perf roller timing chain set or a Cloyes "Plus Roller" timing chain set. You can also add the Mopar Perf windage tray, for good measure. Adding a new fuel pump might be good to do, too. Maybe even some new motor mounts. Be sure to clean the oil pickup tube screen and clean out the oil pan, too! Plus this would be a great time to change the freeze plugs, if needed.
It might be possible to snake the oil pan out with the motor still in the car. But that can be tricky. If so, they somebody'll have a sore neck for a while! But about the same labor hours as "R&R Oil Pan Gasket", which is probably about 2 labor hours. BUT doing it this way means that you'll re-use the existing rear main bearing and no crankshaft removal. BUT if there's no issues with bearing noises now, probably shouldn't be afterward. It will be necessary to snake the upper section out as the new one is installed. Might just need to do the bottom half anyway.
If it's just a little drop on the pavement over-night, more of a nuisance than anything else. NOTHING that has to be fixed immediately, in other words. Find out which spray brake cleaner works best and keep things clean that way until you can find somebody to do the work that you trust. If it was "gushing out" and was needing a quart of oil every week, that's another situation. Park it over a catch pan.
CBODY67
