In answer to your questions Doc: 1. No. it is not as vital obviously as the cambelt tensioner. 2. You dont really need a tdc guage as you will have everything set up before you take the old belt off i.e. the cam locking tools in place and the crankshaft at TDC anyway but I always take number one plug out and have a peek/poke just to make sure! 3. Torch! It gets a bit dark down by the crankshaft. Also last time I did one, I took the crankshaft sensor off and cleaned it, gets quite a lot of muck on it. regards clive.
One other thing Doc just as a safety measure seeing as you have not done one before, when you have finished I would recommend that you turn the engine over with a spanner on the crankshaft at least a couple of revolutions just to make entirely sure that you have done everything right and that there is no interference between pistons and valves before you start her up
Good advice