Replicator 2 hot end recovery and repair from a mess Printing Again

[Chemvaldes]

I'll post what happened and what I did in an effort to preserve the experience for learning and for warning. Anybody that wants to chime in with advice please do so.
There is another post where I showed my R2 hot end encased in about 80 grams of PLA. The print was being made with supports and at some point the supports came lose and the nozzle became encased in extruded plastic.
Chapter 1: Remove the PLA.
I used a hair dryer and a pair of pliers to start tugging at and pulling apart the gobbed up mess. It was working bust just barely. After about an hour I decided to use a dremel with a cut off wheel and etch out the mass. It was working but the wheel was too big. I switched to a grinding bit. Things went from bad to worse. I was very careful to stay away from the wires. At this point I thought all I would need to replace was some insulating tape. Then I ended up drilling right into the wires for the heater. It was later that I decided to snip the wires for the thermocoupler (big mistake). While it allowed me to get the hot end off the machine there was really no need to, I had no idea they disconnect easily. At this point I thought it was shot anyway from all the rough handling. I continued for the next hour until I had all the pieces separated.
Chapter 2: Finding New Parts
I looked and did several searches. Parts are mostly back ordered or expensive. My plan was to order a complete extruder from ebay for $47 that was in China. I wasn't sure of the specs on the Makerbot except for my nozzle size. It took 12 days for the part to get here.
Chapter 3: Reassembly.
I should have taken pictures and marked which bolts went where, but I didn't so it took a little longer than expected. I cut the disconnect off of the heater and soldered on the existing connector. The thermocoupler was installed by removing the bottom plate from the machine and attaching the wire via two small terminals. The only thing I was not certain of was the how far the hot end was below the aluminum block. It took maybe an hour to get everything together and all tidy.
Chapter 4: Error Messages
Plugged the machine in and almost instantly got Heating Error #4 which means the machine can't get any temperature readings. I switched the wires on the thermocoupler. While the OEM ones are marked red an yellow the ones I purchased were not. The next time I turned it on the front fan kicked on and the machine gave me an error message of #5 which means it hates the thermocoupler and the readings are not what it expected. I am stumped on this one and remain stumped to this day.
Chapter 5: The fix that should not have worked.
I grabbed my old thermocoupler and installed it into the new heating block. I then twisted the wires that I had cut and shrinkwrapped them. Turning the machine on I got the good ole familiar song that says I am ready to print. I was under the impression that I had destroyed the existing connection and all hope of that piece working again was lost.
Chapter 6: Wow what a great print.
I leveled the bed and noticed that the springs are really tightened down now to get the bed below the nozzle. Ok for me as I have always thought that they were too lose and the bed was like a trampoline. The first print was going to be small so O tried the bolt and it was perfect so next up was the linked chain and it also was perfect. So last I tried was the blade for a model called the Gunblade. (on thingiverse). I had already printed one of these but I messed it up using the resin coating XTC by mixing the wrong ratio. For this new print the blade will be printed straight out and hovering on supports and a raft. Seven and a half hours later it was one of the best prints ever. So the machine is printing again but I will order a backup OEM thermocoupler.
Picture 1. The blob of PLA
Picture 2. Parts Ordered
Picture 3. The gunblade print. I have an aluminum print bed and use masking tape instead of blue tape.

[Roberto]

Hi,
I must admit I admire your efforts.
You did great job.
And print out from last pics is perfect.

You can use solvent for to get things clean.
Its called THF but we careful, it is very agressive.

[Chemvaldes]

Thanks Roberto.
I think I will skip the solvent. I am a big fan of the auto fillers and I have good faith in the XTC 3D finishing resin I just pulled a bone head move.