for those who read thru this post, the issue has been resolved.
Getting the hex nut to move was the key.
An overnight WD40 soak, a two foot pipe wrench (that's all I had big enough) and the appropriate amount of body weight were the secrets to disassembly. Not for the faint of heart but this part of the rebuild is done. Now if I can get everything back together before the rain/snow gets here.

The MB CD manual was pretty close but there were a few undocumented changes in the basic instructions requiring a bit of ingenuity and assumptions to get by.