Thanks! It's been a learning experience.
Well, today didn't go to plan. It was quickly realized that in order to properly locate the parking brake mechanism, we would need to have the rear brakes assembled, the front cable installed, parts like the return spring in hand, and so on. Problem was, we didn't have many of these parts. The only real progress today was that we found out that it is indeed possible to remove the rear tires with the axle on stands, though it's awfully tight/requires some maneuvering.