After
lots of help from this group, here and on the
brake help thread, I've got the car back on the ground, and as the picture indicates, what a difference!
It finally took a spring compressor to get the big springs out, but the new (right-sized) ones went in with no problem, then it was on to the brakes and re-torquing everything to spec. Now I've just got to clean the plugs so she'll start, and we'll see how the new brakes and front suspension works!
Thanks again,
JLW