My daughter is driving my red 91 xr2, she hated shifting, she now loves it!
The cruise control could be the switch at the clutch. It deactivates cruise when you press the clutch, good idea.
The little plate on the clutch that presses on the switch has a hole in it, and after awhile the switch button wears and just slips through that hole, making the cruise computer think the clutch is pressed. Tape a penny or something across the hole to fix it. I don't know why they put a hole there...
Make sure you get the correct half-shaft, the ones for the non-turbo are different.
The last left halfshaft I installed had a metal holding ring made from metal that was too thick.. the shaft just refused to seat. I re-used the ring off the old one (was told that's a no-no) and it went on fine then.
Sounds like very little to do to have a decent daily driver... have fun...Chris