Oil cooler can come off. There are 1" cranks out there if you look, I had a couple but believe I got rid of them all, I will double check though! The Billets from Midwest are 1 1/8". Roller lifters are by far better than stock stuff, especially if you want to make any horsepower. Factory they are the hydraulic and they suck as far as keeping enough oil in them to stay pumped up. At the very least I would go for a solid/flat tappet type of lifter over the stock hydraulic. They are quite cheap if your trying to do things with lesser money, yet can still work in a camshaft up to 7500-8000 rpm. The rollers just allow for a more aggressive camshaft grind, but with that comes the rest of the valvetrain. I agree with Paul on the pistons, get rid of it. MWSC sells Diamond pistons at a reasonable price, we have had good luck with them in mowers and our pulling truck (4.600 bore @ 9000 rpm).
The freezer idea would be great for putting your ring gear on. I have done several crank gears that way, just don't get caught using moms deep fryer to heat your gears!!