i would think that your temp going up to 3/4 wasnt good your fans should have kicked in prior to going that high on my alhambra it dosnt go much off the half before coming back down and thats in heavy nose to nose traffic def get them checked out
i did the turbo on my 1.8 and it wasnt all that bad 3 bolts hold the exhaust to the turbo flange you will have an oil line also its just annoying as its very little room to work in