I thought I would mention another detail about the front end saga.
When I took it to the last garage and tried to get them to quote me for a front end overhaul, they said all that was needed was a driver side tie-rod assembly and that the rest of the parts looked good and solid.
I went with their recommendation against my judgement. I wanted to replace EVERYTHING figuring that one new part will transfer extra force to the other old parts causing them to deteriorate even faster.
This is what I believe happened now. I haven't driven the car even 5,000 miles since the tie-rod was replaced and the rest of the rubber on the front end is falling apart. The last time I drove the wagon, the front passenger wheel felt like it was wobbling.
Anyway, this is why I decided to suck it up and do these jobs myself. Thankfully, Matt from NY is coming to give me a hand since he's already done a front end. Hopefully, with the two of us working on it, we'll be able to knock the whole thing out in a day.
Of course, I'll have everything prepped as much as I can in advance so we're not stumbling around looking for tools and such. I'll also make sure the coil spring perch holes are ground out if needed so the spring compressor will work smoothly.
Then a few shipping blankets for cushion with a huge piece of cardboard over everything makes a comfortable enough surface to roll around on while working.