ALL DONE!
Just got back from having old strut removed and new one installed. Turns out the tire place had a mechanic who used to work at a Porsche dealership 25 years ago and he took one look and it was like "Game On!" It took him an hour and a half, a lot of heat from a torch, an air hammer and a helper, but he got it out without removing the assembly from the car. Plus, I had them cut out some old unused AC lines while they had it on the lift. Total cost = $68 :)

Thanks again for all the advice and ancouragement; I'm off now to go "break them in" ;)

wafoofan,
Just curious, why the hell was it so friggin hard to remove? Was it rusted on? King Kong-installed or what did the tech say?

Wrench said the old insert was just in there WAY too tight - he basically had to destroy the cap nut to get it off. Car rides and drives GREAT now - best fix I've done since I replaced the missing bolt in my engine mount!

Only problem is, now my rear ride heights are off by an inch - Left is 24" and right is 25". What gives - they were both 24.75" before? Fronts are even at 25.25"