Considering all the "things" that you found, I would dismantle the entire front end and start from scratch. I have been there and done that. Found 9 cracks after cleaning all the crud around the "K" member.
The front end isn’t complicated. Actually, it is the definition of elegant simplicity.
Taking it apart, inspecting, reassembling, torquing to spec will not only give you a great deal of peace of mind, you’ll get to see how this nifty torsion bar suspension works. I suspect that with your other mechanical experience, you would have it back together in no time.
Sorry to see that you have gotten a bunch of crap in this thread.
