I think I did more of a sliding forward and away move to remove the whole thing. Mine are both out now, or I could go out and refamiliarize myself with exactly how it went. I do think I remember taking a few moments to figure out how to get the forward edge loose, but with gentle manipulation it finally came away from the body. I remember having to work fairly slow and gently around the front seat-belt mechanism as well. I wish that I could be more specific regarding a particular maneuver that finally released the thing, but I just kept working around the edges until it came out. There is a section on the CD Service Manual regarding all of this, though I found it of modest help at best (the pictures were hard to see).

I will try a local welding shop before trying to get a new part from the dealership. I have also sent an e-mail to Phil at FastLane, so we'll see what they come up with.