DONE ! I was fortunate to have a friend (thanks Ken !) who was willing to help. Given that, I no longer had a great fear of screwing up my DD. Total time to replace the upper radiator hose and the water pump was ~5 hours, including a lunch break and run to an O'Reilly's Auto store.
If I had to do this myself, it probably would of taken the entire day as I puzzled out how to get the hose clamps off. DAMN, Ford, why did you have to run so many coolant hoses all over the freaking engine bay ? And seriously, for the coolant intake that sits right under the UIM, why didnt you put a 90 degree bend on it ?
We ended up removing the airbox, accordion, battery and battery box. The hose came off first, then the waterpump. The hose that goes under the UIM, and the small hose that trails from the bottom of the waterpump were the real PITA. A 11" needle nose plier with the 90 degree bend is a MUST.
The Motorcraft parts had an excellent fit, no troubles at all other than snaking them back into crowded spaces.
Ken showed me an excellent trick - use 70% isopropanol to wet the hoses and it becomes much easier to slide the hoseclamps around. It evaporates quickly, leaving no residue.
Thanks to everyone for the information which helped give me the confidence to get serious.
thanks,
Mad Dog