In the past few (ok - LOTS of) days:
Pulled the head after diagnosing damaged lifters
Got replacement head from Franko6 that had sand in it, plus dinged up camshaft (more on that later), so then waited on an exchange for that.
Re-installed the head.
Pulled out the 5sp.
In went the 6sp. from Frans (more on that later, too)
Pressed new TT bushings into the LCAs
Then the GT1749VC from Xman (guess what - that didn't exactly go without a hitch either; let's just say my vendor experiences on this project haven't exactly been stellar)
(Now, just waiting on Malone tune....oh, pretty please...)
And then just tonight, diagnosed the driver airbag light that came on after I'd installed the FIS/MFA wiper stalk (bent a pin on the clock spring connector when putting everything back together).
Just took it for a spin around the block...nothing fell off or exploded, so I'm feeling pretty good about it (for now at least).
Now it's just the niggly stuff: Euro wipers; wiring up the multifunction steering wheel controls to control aftermarket head unit (speaking of which, anyone heard anything on when Pioneer is releasing its CarPlay firmware update???); getting the FIS cluster installed/IMMO matched; and probably 11 other things I'm forgetting.