I've read this entire thing and gotten many laughs and chuckles. DRC - as I recall,you and I got sideways a while back in one of my threads....I'll add my $0.02
If you have a functioning EGR valve, you won't experience it blowing open, however (at least on my LMM), if you tune it out but don't block it, it'll blow open for sure.
As for EGR vs non-EGR, if given enough data and time, non-EGR engines will live longer, so the question is how much longer and we just don't know since all engines and driving cycles are a bit different. Oils today (starting w/CI4 quality to current CJ4) are designed for EGR--in some cases they are tested in engines 11-12L running 35% EGR and show little wear--however I can tell you for a fact that the same oil run in an engine w/o EGR will have lower wear--that is a fact. If you happen to have an engine running EGR and happen to get some fuel that is at the older, higher sulfur level, wear will increase exponentially.........more sulfuric acid generated and will cause more cylinder and ring wear (plus more bearing corrosion).
I did my EGR block on an LMM and it took ~2 hrs--half of this was trying to do it w/o removing the inner fender--once removed, it wasn't too bad but the nuts can be a bitch--there are only 2 12mm's on the LMM, and having a ratcheting box wrench makes it a snap. Its literally a 30 minute job to remove the plate, and this includes removing and reinstalling the inner fender if needed to pry back the up pipe.
Everyone's got an opinion and its great to be able to voice it, but continuing to voice the same old stuff time after time gets old.
As for MPG gains, I'd say there are gains from deleting/blocking the EGR, as it clearly adds efficiency back to the engine, however to take full advantage of it, there may be some tuning that needs to happen. For example, if you simply block it and turn off the codes, perhaps the engine still would run on the "with EGR on" tables and on the ones w/it off (I'm not quite sure honestly, but both tables exist, and they are different).
As for the engine warming up time--it might be a tad longer w/it blocked, but its not double by any stretch.