Forza Auto is the best place I've been to if you want performance oriented settings and camber plates, etc installed that typical shops may not have experience with.
I’ve used Cobalt, Raybestos, and Hawk track pads interchangeably with the OE pads and never had an issue. The track pads are so abrasive they will clean the OE pad material off the rotors in a few miles.
Cobalt XR1 and Raybestos ST45 pads up front have worked great for me at the track.
BRF1553 is the correct pad and I would chose that over any other pad for a street based car. My opinion changes when you venture to the track but neither DBA or Hawk would be my suggestion.
I dealt with this in 2020 and they were all out of stock back then too. I went with MB5734XP bearings since I could get them and they've been fine for 15k miles so far.
People here have covered everything. I did it out the top with the hood and trans removed and couldn't believe how simple it was. I removed the bumper cover but that might not be necessary depending on how long your lift arm is.
Get the Ford manuals as reference above. You can download them...
Ford manual says to apply sealant to the woodruff key slot in the pulley before installing it. Probably hasn't been apart, or if it was, the person put it back together "per the book".
Give Brian a call. I had him do some machine work for me when I built my gen 2. Not sure if he will do sleeves, but he’s the only local shop I have had a good experience with.
http://www.duffeemotorsports.com/home.html
I can’t imagine doing this in the car. I did them with the heads sitting on the work bench and it was still difficult. I scratched the bores like you did and sanded them smooth. Used a tiny bit of Permatex Ultra Black on the o-ring and it’s been sealed perfectly for two years.
These are the Ultimate Handling springs. Steeda claims 0.750" drop, seems close to that, I never actually measured.
These are heavy so shipping will be quite a bit. Prefer local. PM me your address and I can get a shipping quote.