I'll be following this closely. I really want to build a new loom but never done it before. Fancy giving it a go so will be quite interested to see how you end up going about it.
Also, if hes messed around with everything else then I'd bet he's dicked around with the carb set up. Probably got all happy with a screwdriver thinking more turns = more power
I'd start with the cheapest fix first like putting pods back on and working back from there.
Proper nobby thing for a mate to do. Second vote for chopping his fingers off.