Greetings, Guys.
The matter is apparently fixed. As Monk would say, "Here's how it happened."
1. Gerry52 supplied a link for an extended (grip) female foster fitting. It cost $14.99, and came today. Typically I do nothing like this during the week, but on a whim, I went at it again with the new coupler.
2. Heavyopp had mentioned to use muscle when screwing in the FX coupler and then said I would have to do it again when the extended coupler arrived. I decided to wait for the extended one.
3. Heavyopp also said to clean up the inside of the block due to galling, which I did a tad, and to use some (proper) lube, which I did not have to do.
4. I used a vise-grip pliers on the block and a pliers (name??) I have that bites down similarly to how a channel lock pliers does. Without nearly the kind of effort I used in my previous unsuccessful attempts with the (1) FX coupler and the (2) Air Venturi coupler, I achieved what I figured was a flush and tight fit. I could actually have gone more with this coupler, but I thought I had it.
5. I put the compressor on and the gun wasn't filling. In the excitement, I forgot to close the bleed valve! I closed the valve and filled the Crown to 240 BAR for now. (I would like to get the more accurate Wika gauges down the road.)
6. I have no idea why this coupler screwed into the block. I bought it to move my fingers away from the block. It turned out to kill two birds with one stone.
Please know that I read and reread every single post. I learned a lot of things. I am still green, but I was a very pale green before this thread engagement. I am still contemplating some of the things people have mentioned for future reference. Below are some pictures. I will wrap up yet another long post with two comments. One, I don't know how to arrange the pictures in a more logical way. Two, the three couplers in the one picture are as follows, from left to right: factory, Air Venturi, and FX. Notice that the Air Venturi's grasping area is very narrow. This coupler also gave, as far as touch can indicate, the best purchase on the FX Crown nipple. It clamped on it very positively.
Thank you all so very, very much for your attentive input. I appreciate it a ton. In the end, it was Gerry52's link--and some confidence gained from Heavyopp to not worry about ruining the block by screwing in a 'reluctant' non-factory fitting--that did it for me. With my abilities, I figured among the simplest solutions would be to "muscle" the new coupler in, if I could. But as one member said, there are many ways to fix this situation (and to better things overall). Some of them are on this thread.
One last thing. I paid $339.00 on Amazon for this GX CS2. It's on a better sale right now for $303.99. (I am not thrilled about missing any sale.) I am still looking at the GX CS3. It seems like a definite design improvement over the CS2, and Amazon has it on sale right now for $413.99. Among other improvements over the CS2, that ridiculously placed block is gone. They smartened up. I got this unit because it had good ratings,
was air cooled (= easier to use), and alleges to offer about 50 hours of run time before it needs grease. We shall see.
The links below are for the GX CS2, and the GX CS3, respectively. Again, thank you all. S7
