I disassembled my Yugo SKS myself using only hand tools (though I did weld a long handle onto a crowfoot wrench to remove the barrel from the receiver because it was the only wrench I could find in the right size at a reasonable price). I won't say it was easy or fast, but it's not really that difficult. I drifted the pins for all the barrel blocks (grenade launcher, front sight/bayo lug, gas, stock ferrule) and then one at a time, set the barrel in the vise with the jaws just loose enough to support the block but not grab the barrel. Then, using a small sledgehammer and a square copper rod to protect the muzzle, I whacked the crap out of the barrel until the block broke loose. After I removed all the blocks, I then clamped the square receiver in my vise and used my homemade barrel wrench to spin off the barrel. It would have been helpful had I scribed witness marks on the barrel and action so I could reinstall the barrel by simply lining up the marks, but I think I managed to get everything straight.
The Romanian AKs I've stripped had blocks that were a lot easier to remove than those of the Yugo SKS. Rear sight blocks on Hungarian AKs can be a bear.
Here's my stripped Yugo barrel:
And my barrel wrench. Should be 22mm for the Yugo:
Oh, and any reason the customer can't use the original AK M14x1 LH threads with an adapter? Like RJB wrote, the diameter on the AK and SKS barrels is too small for 5/8x24. I had to have my Yugo rethreaded M14x1 LH (it was originally M14x1 RH) for a YHM QD flash hider.
