Lemmee try...

With the tensioner bolt loose, Rufus is suggesting that by turning the engine UNTIL THE TENSIONER MOVES OUT and then RE-TIGHTENING THE BOLT___ (don't miss that crucial piece of info!) you will be able to loosen the tensioner enough to remove the cam gear. I'm not sure this will work... I would think that you would need to somehow prevent the cam from turning, so that when you pull the breaker bar to turn the engine, the belt will push the tensioner back...

I forsee cam timing problems here though. Unless you are very lucky, you probably won't get the cam timed properly. If you mark the sprocket and the belt, you can be pretty sure they will go back on at the same spot, but, can you be absolutely certain that when the tension is off the belt that it won't skip a tooth on the crank pulley ???????

You shouldn't have to remove the PS pump bracket if you are only removing the head. You remove the bolt holding the bracket to the head, leave the bracket in place and lift the head off. IIRC, there is another bolt on the PS bracket that goes into the block.

I have no clue about the thermo housing... but, you will be installing a new thermostat, won't you ?

I'd like to ask you this question:

How new is your timing belt ? If you are going this far, it kinda makes sense to replace it now.

How new is your water pump ? ditto...