I've read of guys that had crumbled plastic electrical female connectors, and they just put a bit of heat shrink on the end and shrink it to what was left of the connector. That protects whatever is left, and makes sure you don't short anything out.
As for write-ups, here is some more reference material for you:
Here's the time I did what you are doing now (
replacing the heads in the engine bay), but in a van. That was a doozey. You'l have a much easier time than me.
Here's my latest
7.3 IDI teardown write-up.
And here's the subsequent
7.3 rebuild write-up.
HTH. While I started out my website to focus on the IDI Van, I ended up having a lot of fundamental 7.3 IDI stuff on it, like the rebuild articles. Message me or comment on the page if you have any questions.