With a short deadline it sounds like you just need the facts on that final step, here's some links ref & tutors http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=53002 tutors http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=36177 texturing tips http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=4678 texturing tutorial…
Ok then just start removing edges that dont help the shape of your objects. Round parts you can likely reduce to 12 sided, smaller ones even less. I dont know if you applied a smooth to those objects there or if you can return to an earlier version that isnt smoothed but that needs to be done before unwrapping. I dont know…