I'm still curious about extracting the other half of range of adjustment. It would make the job much easier in the future.

I remember the A/C clamp/bracket being in a spot where it did not allow the A/C line to slide through anymore. That was probably preventing the compressor to move. I don't know why it was at the end of its range of movement, though. You can see this in the 1st picture. The bracket interferes with the bend in the A/C line.