Rear brake pad replacement questions Options

[sfrenck]

I've read the Pelican Tech Article Bird Board Brake Pads , the Eric Shea "914 Rear Caliper Adjustment Procedure" ES Procedure and the Cap'n Krusty procedure CK Procedure. Got a few questions.

1) To push the piston back so that the new (really thick) pad can be inserted, do you have to simultaneously turn the 4mm adjustment screw while putting pressure on the piston? On the driver side, I guess you would turn it CW since CCW moves the piston towards the disc (and it does move). When putting pressure on the piston without turning the screw, the piston didn't budge.

Regarding the following pics of the inner adjuster:
2) How can you see the inner cap to tell if it's easily going to come off using the 4mm hex on the 6" socket extension (through the control arm)?
3) Assuming I can get the inner cap off and out of the way, do you need to remove the inner washer and gear or just go ahead and stick the 4mm hex back in and turn?
4) If it seems like the cap is stuck, should I follow the Pelican method of removing the rear caliper (without disconnecting the brake lines)?