"I'm not sure if that would work. Looking at the flight director when it is in T/O mode it seems to command a nose-up pitch for the entire takeoff run."
The FD is pitch up simply because it is in TOGA mode. If you selected another mode, the bars won't necessarily point up. FLCH mode on the 747-400, for example, (from memory) makes the FD point down when parked at the gate, even tho' the selected altitude is higher (probably trying to attain MCP speed by pitching down). V/S gives you sort of what you select (it seems to give a particular _initial_ pitch angle command for a particular V/S setting. Probably no good for autotakeoffs.
[Freezing Fog] Re LOC mode... will it capture on the ground on your particular aircraft? Never tried it.
Rgds.
Q.