I commend all of you on doing this project yourselves!
I needed a new AOS a few months back and all the talk of how much a pain in the butt it was and the fact that I could barely see it, let alone get my hands in there lead me to bring it to a highly rated local indy shop. They were very quick and reasonably priced. For me, the 5 hours of frustration I saved was worth the labor charge this time, but it was a tough decision because I have done all the other mods and repairs myself.