Well any good threads deserves a conclusion - and lesson(s) learned. The ingnition cylinder came right out last night
On the way home stopped and purchased a 1.25 hex allen and a set of bent needle nose pliers at Harbor Freight. Used the vibrating sander to again get me to #2 position. Stuck the 1.25 allen in, pushed and "crunch" - I knew something was different this time. The needle noose pliers were an excellent substitution for the $32 cylinder remover. Thanks "Carson" for the technical data it made all the differnce in the world.
Conclusion
#1 Get the right information on what you are working on 123's and 126's are different birds sometimes. 1.25 made all the difference, using 1.3, 1.5, paperclips, wire did not work
#2 The bent needle nose is a decent substitution $3 at H.F.
#3 The vibrating sander worked well in moving the key off the lock position, did this many time over the many days of this 15 minute repair
Timing is just right as I see my cylinder from Phil is in town
Hopefully there are no "tricks or traps" to the re-install (thanks to everyone)