one more post, then I'm out.
Try one of these from Kragen or Pep Boys:
It's a brake pad spreader. It fits in the space where the spring steel goes. You basically take the spring out, put the pads and pins back in, and tap the brake pedal to overextend the pistons. Then you use the spreader to spread the pads just enough so that the caliper fits back onto the rotor. Now you have a correctly adjusted brake pad clearance to the rotor.