Torsion bar tools are a waste of money. Put it up on jacks, loosen the torsion bar adjusters, pull the shocks, separate the ball joints, remove the strut rod nuts. Pull the torsion bar clips, remove the LCA spindle nuts and use a dead blow hammer to knock the LCA back until the torsion bar hex end clears the rear socket. Knock the LCA forward off the bar, slide the bar out. No chance to scratch up the bar with some dumb tool, more cash in your wallet. And if you have larger torsion bars and/or headers the tools are pretty useless anyway. The don’t fit the larger bars at all, and with headers there’s very little room to work with to get them clamped on.
Agree with everything except the torsion bars not fitting if you swap them side to side. They absolutely fit, and it has been done. It throws the ride height adjustments totally out of whack though because the bars are indexed, which is usually how it gets noticed. Stock torsion bars are numbered, odds on the left, even on the right.
Based on the description of how the car handles, I would drop the K, clean and inspect it at the very least. If the bushings are shot then the LCA pin tubes could easily be broken out or worn. I would also check all the factory welds, because I've seen factory welds crack at the steering box mounts. Personally I wouldn't ever reinstall a K member without fully seam welding and gusseting the steering box and LCA pin mounts, but that's just me.
