Well, folks, the clunking was traced to undertorqued cradle-to-control-arm fastener. I remember tightening the crap out of these and rechecking them after alignment and finding them tight, but apparently they were not torqued all the way to spec and as a result the control arm end was shifting around.
I did not have a torque wrench that could fit in that tight of an area....my bad.

Yet another demonstration of why adhering to torque specs is so important....

 

So glad you were finally able to track down your gremblin ... ride well, Dude

 

Well derf..........it's about time you fixed it.

 

a week off from work gives you time to fix alot of stuff

My A/C now works too

 

Ohhhhhh -- Now Derf's got a coool ride also ...

 

turned out to be low side/service port was the only leak -- compressor was fine...

 

Great -- sometimes its the little things that get ya. Inexpensive fixes are perks of the Forum

 

How much did it cost to fix and what does it take to do it

 

It cost me my tme, some 1/2 in metric sockets n wrenchi (already had), and someone stronger than I to torque it down. Might have helped to use new bolt and nut.

In retrospect, having worked on my other s car suspension, I actually needed to replace the front sway bar bushings and bolts. When they wear, thr whole stabilizer bar moves forward. Add that to the angled geometry of trying to get the stabilizer bar end through the control arm with enough play to get the control arm lined up in the cradle slot. With the stab bar too far forward it is eventually not possible.