Big Update! WOOT WOOT!
Shocks and struts are on. My nephew came over yesterday to help with the heavier lifting and we putzed through the job in about 3 hours or so, just taking our time.
One rear shock was an oily mess. One front strut had a torn bellow, and the surface quality of the strut shaft seems a bit, "hazy," or not as clean and polished as the other side. The bearings, er, sorry, "thrust plate," according to Koni, didn't seem exceptionally loose or clunky, but does have decidedly more play in the assembly if you try to pull the two halves apart. the mounts were crusty.
During the build-up, I decided to use the OEM bearings because they had the ribs in the inner diameter that held the mount cup with less play. I also used the KYB mounts because it was painted and had plated bolts, and I considered they would be less susceptible to corrosion here in Michigan.
Solid improvement in ride, a couple of local choppy corners are much smoother now. There was some clunking going on over bumps, like a secondary or rebound noise. Like a quick BUMP-clunk. It just rolls down the street without some of the little clunking or knocking going on now. There does remain a light knock on the apron transition of the driveway, driving in or backing out. I'll have to look into that. Maybe iffy end links or something else, I dunno. There was so much noise going on that likely hid this particular noise and now it's apparent. Current noise seems smaller and slightly higher in pitch, if one can use that term. Reminds me of my wife's Subaru when a caliper bolt came loose, but we checked the calipers when we had the wheels off the car.
Significantly, I found that the resistance to turning when the spring was loaded against the bearing/mount is essentially the same in the old assembly with 97K miles on them as on the new assemblies. There was ultimately nothing to worry about, seems like the nature of the beast, though it seems incorrect when first put together.