Cool.. in that case, beat the hell out of it.. that's the best way to figure out what you can and cannot get away with.

Also, if you add additional parts and need to uv map them, keep in mind lightave can keep track of miltiple UV maps, so you can unwrap your new stuff and use as much uv space as you need.

save out the additions separately, and you can get tyhe uv maps for those very easily, and then toss away that saved additiona object.

Way too many people take way too many things way too seriously.