ext rom fro sprint needed after instal?
 

I am brand new to even thinking about installing an updated AKU so this unified project is a godsend but what will need to be done afterwards to maintain my phone functionality? Is there a sprint ext rom i need?

Yes, for the ROM you'll need a small subset Ext ROM (NOT the original). Plenty of good threads here discussing what you need to do.

Assuming a kitchen gets released someday, there's an existing OEM that works great - just bake it in. Has been running with no issues in my phone (my ROM is based on 2+ month old recent pre-release kitchen).