I feel like the only person in this thread now. lol

That's ok, it is a bit like a diary of my thoughts on this at this point.

This is a good friends car, cash is a huge problem, so I have to be very cautious about throwing money at a fix. Can't take many guesses, guesses cost money.

I am more than frustrated at the mechanics it has been to.
I as relieved to have finally taken the intake off as it was scary to me just because of the stupid, want to strip out allen keys on the intake and the 3 hoses in the back.

I haven't done a lot of repair work in recent years.
At this point in my life I drive newer cars and they really don't need much attention.

I am anxious about the re-assembly, but think it will be easier than taking it apart was.

It has been kind of fun actually, but must keep in mind that this is serious business for the owner.

Here is a tip for the allen keys on the intake. They all were various fits of the allen keys. 3 were torx, and different sizes. One had been almost stripped by someone. Only one was in good shape. I soaked them in penetrating oil the night before I started the work.
When I started the work. I took a punch that fit into the caps without hitting the sides, and hammered on each one for a good 30 seconds. Poor mans impact wrench. I cleaned the inside of the caps before I tried the wrench on them. I tried US and metric bits till I got the tightest fit on each individual key.
I never just tried to "brute force" them out. Tried to turn, then hammered on them when I felt the turning was getting close to breaking or stripping.

I suggest replacing them with high quality cap heads when re-assembling so hopefully if this needs to come off again, it will be a simple, insert key, turn wrench instead of an hour long excersie in caution hoping to avoid drilling.

The hoses on the back. Good grief.
Buy hose pliers. Got a set of 3 sizes cheap at Harbor Freight.
Wonderful tools. Also long nose angled pliers.
Now half of the clamps were easy, the pliers released them, then I used the hose pliers to twist and remove the hose.
The rest of them, well, the clamps bent the tabs and then things got ugly.
Allow a lot of time to work on them, they will try your patience. Just keep at it and realize that you are not gonna re-use those hoses, so they can be sacrificed, and persevere till you get them. If you keep at it, you will get them. New hoses and clamps should be used to re-assmble.

If you don't hear from me again, I prolly royally hosed the re-assembly and am too embarassed to even type in here again... lol