I installed a Harken 2 about 15 years ago but I do not recall the details of the installation and some of the things you refer to. I have since replaced the forestay once which required only buying a new Norseman fitting and the wire. I have had no issues whatsover with it in 25K miles. Principle installation challenge was getting it positioned so that it did not crowd my anchor shank when it came up and leaving enough room at the top for a halyard restrainer. Your old forestay is very important for marking your new one to get it right.
Some hints on installation you did not ask for: 1. Make sure you have a halyard restrainer at the top of the mast to prevent the halyard from wrapping. This will require a bit shorter hoist on the sail and a shorter set of foils, and maybe a recut of the head of your jib if you did not have one before. You do not need a very sophisticated restrainer unit--Shaefer makes a very simple one that is relatively cheap. It is worth giving up a couple inches of hoist to ensure you do not have a halyard wrap. To me this is a safety issue as a wrap offshore could be disastrous. IMHO a restrainer is a safety requirement, not an option. 2. If you are not experienced with the Norseman fitting (or whatever brand you are using for the lower forestay) I suggest you buy an extra cone and practice before cutting your forestay to length and putting it on. Or hire an experienced rigger to do this part. It is really not technically difficult, but you are working with relatively small tolerances here, this fitting will be hidden for the rest of the forestay's life (you should inspect it, but I doubt if many people regularly do) and if it fails, you have a disaster. 3. If you take your mast up and down seasonally, you may find it advantageous to put an extra knuckle and clevis on the bottom of the unit. This has two benefits: keeps your furler up and away from your anchor when retrieving it, and makes it a heck of a lot easier to attach the forestay when restepping the mast. Does not materially affect effective sail area to have this in place, though I was concerned this might be a result.
FWIW
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