Lowering the car and struts:
You might want to look at what some of the guys are doing on their Pontiac Fieros to lower them.
They're using a modified McPherson strut and a coil-over kit. Allows for individual height/pre-load adjustment.
http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/046456.html
Read the whole thread so that you see the incremental progress made.
I'm envious of your junkyard find! Good luck driving the Grapevine! I'm not too fond of it in a traditional ICE vehicle.
Kendall