Slip the electrical coil over the valve cylinder you removed and just hand tighten the lower nut/washer.

Place the valve in the cylinder and activate the brew switch. You need to slightly press the valve down or it won't do anything.

Eric
I just edit my previous response after I reread your post a few times and figured it out!
What happens is when I turn the brew switch, it instantly snaps down. No need for me to touch it at all. Thoughts?

The next step would be to gently remove the Teflon tubing at the boiler end. Slip some hardware store tubing over the end (for extension purposes) and see if the pump will work.

If not, then the shop I initially linked to will have a pump and can also remove that pesky dispersion screen screw.