TimR wrote, on Thu, 19 Feb 2015 10:39:36 -0800:

Just thinking out loud.

Compress it all the way in a vise, run some thin steel wire down the inside
and around, twist tightly.

Shove the spring in place, cut the wire?

Or, do you have a bar clamp? might be able to get the spring halfway
in place, put the jaws of the bar clamp on it, turn the handle to compress.
Good chance of it popping out and nailing you in the face though,
might want to wear goggles.

That spring has popped out probably twenty or thirty times already, and,
when it flies, it flies.

I figured it out, with the help of Jeff's video which explained the two
details that I was lacking in my attempts.

I didn't use the method the guy used in the video; but I stole all his
ideas on what the critical danger spots were.

Instead of metal to hold the spring inside, I used packing tape.

I bolted the assembly into a vise and then leveraged with a 2-foot long
screwdriver on the end of the spring (all smaller sizes failed).

You'll notice I leveraged the OPPOSITE end that the guy did in the
video that Jeff kindly posted.

That leverage, along with the packing tape on the other end, got the spring
into the slot without the otherwise inevitable bouncing around the room
when the screwdriver inevitably slipped (the force is akin to tilting a
refrigerator with the tip of a screwdriver ... nothing you can't handle -
but when it slips, the spring goes flying).

Here's a re-enactment picture of how I got the spring in place!
https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7306/1...b75a36fe_c.jpg

Notice the screwdriver at bottom left instead of at top right (where the
video applied leverage with needle-nose pliers).

Now, it's time to spin the brake lock wheel, and I'll be done.
Thanks for all your advice!