got your PMs. went bar hopping tonight in new orleans. met up with some tulane grad students that one of my room mate's knows. went to The Boot, Mrs. Mae's, and Bruno's.
i can definitely help you with replacing the rack. i have no reservations about crawling under a jacked up car. i guess i trust the jack stands a little too much, though, LOL. tie rod ends are easily replaced. just make sure to mark on the threaded rod where the current ones are BEFORE you remove them. this will prevent the need for a front-end alignment. however, since you are planning on an alignment anyways for the K-sports, this is not that big of a deal. rather, marking the tie rod positions just makes the alignment go quicker and gets you your car back sooner
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everything on your list should go smoothly. only things that might be a headache are the ignition switch and a/c system. what in the A/C system do you need to replace? i would leave that for last b/c you just want to get your car on the road. you can always just not run the A/C, though we are in the South and often see temps in the 90s. but still, A/C working or not working won't keep your car from running.
i can see your point of view on being anal about torquing nuts and bolts to spec, but i don't see why you would decline the help of another? as long as the helper concedes to pay as close attention to things as you do, everything should be fine. i guess you may just not want to double check his work, but still, its all about trust. as far as torque specs go, everything has a torque spec, but honestly and personally, only the critical parts really matter. i.e. the torque spec of a head bolt or tensioner pulley bolt is much more important than the torque spec of the bolt that holds the alternator bracket to the block. granted, its a no-brainer not to leave the bolt loose, but most people can exercise good judgment on how tight to secure a non-critical bolt.
in the end its all symantecs, but most people can recognize what is an important part that should be torqued to spec. of course, if your torque wrench is a cheap-o, then any 'torque-spec' argument you make is moot as the torque wrench's accuracy is then called into question.
anywho. i understand where you're coming from and would love to provide company and encouragment while you work on the car. i'll help where i can and when you want it, but i won't push anything on you...perhaps nothing more than a beer
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