Well, the subframe is lowered a little and I've got plenty of room to get the spindle into the knuckle, BUT... now I can't get the strut assembly to move inboard enough to get the spindle into the darn hole. The strut is held in loosely by the bolt on top of the strut tower. The halfshaft is the only thing that appears to be possibly impeding the movement inward. It seems to be in all the way. Is there anything other than the splines that locate the halfshaft, like a keyway of sorts? Could it have popped out a little and stuck? Once more... ugh. Back to the mess...
and thanks for the help guys. Couldn't have gotten this far without you.