Pardon me for asking, but you mean that you don't want to stick a prybar between the coil windings after you have capped the shock/strut and the coil can't fly away? That would be easy actually-if that is indeed what you mean. It would pop about 3/4 of an inch (a coil width), just keep your hand on the tools and not in the coils.

bear in mind I worked on cars for a good number of years professionally.

Anyways, I look forward to photos, post lift ride analysis, and reports back on any alignment or any other side effects.