Thanks hillrider - I'm still missing something. Using the nickel, it still prevents me from inserting the crank puller because the puller seems too long. Do you know what I mean? Comparing Park's two crank pullers (there is a picture on the page of the two below), one seems to be shorter than the other (from tip to thread).
http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=120
In the meantime, I'll try what you said, I'll loosely replace the bolt and thread in the ring. I then just unscrew the crank bolt against the ring?