Does you mechanically inclined friend have experience taking apart and putting together modern manual transmissions? Do you have a nice clean shop with plenty of space?
I disagree with Uncle Turbo on one point. He says they are easy to take apart. They are hard to take apart and a whole lot harder to put back together. When you take it apart, there are a lot of little pins and stuff that tends to fall out before you can catch them so you need a nice, clean, well lit shop so that you can find them. A sweep magnet might come in handy too.