i undid the thrust arm nut and put a seperate bottle jack under the stud (making sure i didn't damage it). i used it to jack up the strut assembly (until it couldn't compress anymore). then i raised the car up using another jack, and backed it off just enough so that, effectively, the jack under the thrust arm was holding up the weight of the car (the other jack under the body of the car was set so that there was only a tiiinnnyy bit of slack), ie, if the bottle jack gave way, the car would transfer weight to the second jack, NOT fall on it. i pickle fork'd and hammered with the 2.5lb hammer (the "mini-sledge", as i can't bear to swing a full sized one that close to my fender) to no avail for a long while after. the car sat supported by the thrust arm stud for a good hour or so, it should have loosened it up somewhat. do i need to just take off the strut plate now? i have a feeling that it won't come off easily, and that is why i haven't done it yet.