The last "tooth" at both ends of the mechanism are square. This prevents the crank gear from being turned off of the piece. I ground the square ends to a point and was able to spin the gear completely off. The piece with the gear on it will now spin all the way around to the opposite side.

All I should have to do is clamp the "gear" section in the vise and install the spring with no tension. Then I can use the other half of the mechanism as a lever....spin the assembly around until the gear grabs the teeth on the other side. That should be it. I shouldn't have to use any pliers or bend the tab that holds the spring.

Once it's back together, I could put a couple spot welds on the end "teeth" so the gear can't be spun off.