I need to remove and replace the lower control arms to replace the control arm bushes and ball joints
I’m getting the local shop to press in new bushes and balll joints but wanted to save a few $$ and remove them myself
I’ve never done this before and have an idea what I’m doing
Is it a relative straightforward process or am I better leaving it to the pros?

You can do it yourself easily enough but you need to take care.

Long post but here's what I do. This works on a HJ with drums, not sure if the WBs or discs are the same, you'll need to check.

Jack the front end up and put it on two jackstands under the front cross member. You need two so they are in the right spot to initially recompress the spring. You want the front end high enough so the lower control arm will just clear the ground when it is hanging straight down after it is loose.
Take the wheel off. Remove the shock.
Place a jack under the lower control arm near the ball joint. I use a small bottle jack as a bigger one won't give enough clearance when you lower the control arm later. You could try a trolley jack here, I prefer a bottle jack as they can't roll and if a bottle jack fails it can only retract down to the height of the jack itself, not all the way down like a trolley jack.
Jack it up until the jack is taking the weight of the lower control arm. The jack will eventually take the force of the spring when the lower control arm separates from the hub so you need a fair bit of lifting force on it. When you are starting to lift the side of the car then this is about the right height. Note, if you don't have the engine in the car there won't be enough weight to do it this way.
Now split the ball joint from the hub. To do this I leave the nut on there and unscrew the nut until you can just see a gap between the nut and the part of the hub it attaches to. The smaller the gap the better because it will split with a sudden bang.
Unstick the ball joint from the hub using one of the threaded type ball joint separators. Use a small piece of around 2mm thick aluminium sheet between the jaw of the separator and the top of the ball joint's threaded shaft. This protects the thread and makes it much easier to get the nut off.
After it loosens with a small bang remove the nut.
Somehow hang the hub/upper control arm assembly so it doesn't come down with the lower control arm. I usually use a bit of wire but take care not to damage your paintwork.
Now slowly lower the jack until the spring becomes loose. I have found that the bottle jack won't lower enough to fully loosen the spring but by the time it is fully retracted and the control arm is resting on it there is very little compression left in the spring and I can just knock the jack out sideways. Importantly, when I do this I am at the front of the car. Then if something gives way and the spring does come out in an uncontrolled fashion I am not in its path.
I will mention that although I have tonner springs which are thicker than sedan springs they are over 40 years old so I guess they are a bit saggy. Newer springs may be a bit longer which would leave a fair bit of tension in the spring. Not sure how to handle this except maybe reverse the recompression sequence below and use a 'sideways' jack to finish lowering the control arm.

Job done, you now have the upper control arm/hub assembly hanging from the mudguard, the lower control arm hanging straight down and the spring out of the vehicle.

(For future reference: To reassemble install the upper control arm but don't torque it up. Final tightening is done when the vehicle is assembled and back resting on the ground as normal.
Attach the hub to the upper control arm and torque it to final specs.)
Install the lower control arm but, as with the upper control arm, don't torque it up until the vehicle is back on the ground.
Put the spring back in. This can be a bit fiddly. I think the lower end of the spring should line up with the drain hole in the lower control arm, that is where I put it anyway!. (Can anyone confirm this?)
To get the spring in I find I have to rotate it into place. Put the spring right up into the hole where it sits. Then pivot the lower control arm up to meet it. Start with the bottom end of the spring about 1/4 of a turn away from the drain hole and spin it into place as you hold the lower control arm up to it. There will be a bit of friction but grunt it into place. I don't use any lubricant here although it would probably make it easier to get spring in place because I don't want the spring to have any reason to move when compressing it. Once the spring is in place hold the lower control arm up and tension it slightly with a 'sideways' jack.
A 'sideways' jack is either a small bottle jack or a scissor jack leaned over so the base is against the sloping side of the jackstand under the front cross member. The top of the jack goes against the underside of the lower control arm. Note, you don't want the top of the sideways jack to be too close to the ball joint as another jack will be placed there. There is a convenient hollow in the lower control arm (where the spring is IIRC) where the top of the sideways jack will sit nicely.

Now you have the spring being held in place by the lower control arm which is being held in place by the sideways jack under slight tension against the side of the jackstand. The bottom end of the spring isn't sitting flat against the lower control arm yet, only on the inside half. The lower control arm will still be hanging more downwards than horizontal at this stage. This is the reason for the sideways jack. I couldn't find a way to get the lower control arm high enough to get a jack underneath it so it could be jacked straight up. The jack kept slipping out because the angle of the lower control arm was too vertical.
Slowly extend the sideways jack. The lower control arm will pivot on it's mounting bolts and become more horizontal. There isn't a lot of tension on the spring yet but be careful when dong this as the spring isn't yet fully against the lower control arm. Again I would do this from the front of the vehicle.
As the lower control arm becomes more horizontal put another jack underneath it with the head of the jack near the ball joint (call this the lifting jack). As you raise this jack it takes all of the weight and the sideways jack will fall out.
Unhook the hub and continue raising the lifting jack until the top of the ball joint is up to the hub. I find it easier to feed the ball joint into the hub as you raise the jack. Once the ball joint is seated in the hole in the hub put the nut on the ball joint and torque to specs.
Slowly lower the lifting jack until it comes clear of the lower control arm.

All done.
I've done this twice now with no problems. But always think about what could go wrong and keep yourself clear of where you could get hurt.

Yes. The whole lot weighs a bit though so be prepared for it. You also need to take care about putting too much tension on the brake hose as the upper ball joint will swivel and tilt in every direction (damhik). I can't remember exactly how I hung it but it was with wire. You will find that you want to hang it fairly high up so it isn't in the way all the time.
Have a look and see where you can hang it from before you split the assembly.
Another handy tip is to have a spare set of control arms. Get new bushes, etc fitted to them and then swap the old ones out and put the new ones in in one go. Very convenient.

It depends on your budget, your skill level, your skill & your thirst for knowledge. It's how I learnt about cars.

Dr Terry