Hi jetblast, or another process that would be closer to the "Pick and choose from the import" like you were originally asking for would be like this:

Step 1 - clear the selection by pushing Esc or clicking in empty space.

2 - do File > Import to bring in the file. Note that the objects that were just imported will all be selected.

3 - do an "isolate selection" by right-clicking on the Edit > Hide button. This will hide everything else other than the selected objects, and the current hidden/visible state of everything is remembered so it can be restored later.

4 - now you're only seeing just the objects from that import as the only visible things in the model. Remove pieces you don't want.

5 - right-click on Edit > Hide again to restore all the other stuff to the pre-isolate state.

- Michael