Ron,
Thanks for the info. I had the link to GCP and completely forgot about it. That illustration is clearer than the one in the CVI catalogue - much more complete also.

Eric, What you're saying confirms what I gleaned from the GCP parts breakdown. So, is the "spring seat" the part that is a split ring with an "L" cross sectional shape that fits snugly inside the bearing and the spring rests on top of it?

I am still in a bit of a quandary though about the insufficient amount of shaft exposed to which the steering wheel slides onto. The spring at the bottom of the tube keeps the shaft too far down to allow all of the pieces to be installed at the top and still be able to get the nut started on. If I could get the nut at least started it would pull the shaft upward, compressing the lower spring, and engaging the shaft splines into the steering wheel splines as I tighten it. But I can't even do that. It's almost like I need to go under the hood and devise a way to extend the slip joint upward, compressing the lower spring, and exposing more shaft at the top end.

I'm using the same shaft (never removed from the car) and tube that were originally in the car. I possibly have about 1/32" more ignition switch showing on the front of the dash than originally, which would indicate the tube could be lowered a TINY bit, but that ain't much. I did replace the rubber connecting disc (U-joint kinda gizmo) with a new one but I can't see where that would be a problem. I'm going to go out and have another look at things.......
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Current rides: 2005 Volvo S80 2.5T, 2003 Volvo V70 2.4NA, 1973 Volvo 1800ES (STILL not road worthy!)