Held vacuum overnight - ran for another hour or so to get out more moisture, then put two 12oz cans of R134a in this morning. AC is blowing cold, can't get vent temps because "we" broke the other thermometer, but if I had to guess it's in the 40s or so. Pretty decent for not much cash, just some time. Smoke Monster noise is still there slightly - must be the inner part of the pulley rubbing on that other part of the compressor, so will just have to let it clearance itself because I'm not pulling it all apart again any time soon, lol.
Lessons learned - get your own manifold and vacuum pump. Probably don't need to be top of the line, but they will be miles better than the rent-a-tools I got from O'Reilly. I'll be buying these for myself if I do more AC work. Also, check all the O-rings, including the new ones in the valve retrofit kit. Mine were a little janky from Amazon, and the replacements I got didn't quite fit. Had to get another set of green rings from the parts store.
Otherwise that's it. Was a 1-

job I'd say, and I was going slow and have never done it before. YouTube Tech helped a bunch as did searching here.
EDIT - test drive confirms frozen toes and lots of condensation under the rig after driving for a half hour