Regarding the vacuum lines, i have found that pulling them off works better than trying to pry them off with a screw driver. Just pull straight up (not at an angle). If you do want to use a screw driver to loosen the hose (which is totally fine), just make sure you don't cut it by accident. If you do, it's no big deal. Just cut off the torn end of the hose. There's really nothing you can do that would result in an unfixable problem.
And yes, our tech support forum is the best place to ask questions:
http://216.120.252.228/forum/
Shiv