onehundred80, yes terrific write up. To be honest I don't plan on ever doing it myself. Except for my own (previous daily driver) car which has a transaxle, all of the clutches are installed with the engine and transmission off the car. They then install together.

What torque is the clutch plate (preferably in ft. pds)?

Is it pretty much a given that when the clutch plate is shot, most likely the cover is also? I do have to say, your clutch plate looked to me like it had a lot of mileage left on it.

I'm having a really hard time visualizing the slave cylinder you describe and about pushing the cylinder in. To me a new car in the shop is a '78. The brake fluid has been completely drained, attach slave cylinder, then later bleed it when everything's in place. I'm sure it's a situation that 'ya gotta be there to understand it'.