ok, so i’ve solved my problems locating a spring compressor, i compressed the spring, i reintalled the top hat, and when i went to put the shock back on the car i noticed that the hat wasn’t aligned correctly. if i put the fork in the right place, the two threaded posts at the top aren’t in the right position to fit through their holes, and vice versa.
am i supposed to align the top hat correctly before tightening down the bolt? aka just eyeball how the hat needs to be situated in relation to the one way the fork fits on the strut assembly?
none of the online tutorials make mention of this, probably because both G3 integra articles i can find presume you are installing lowering springs and therefore (a) you don’t need to compress the springs to install on your shocks, and (b) there will be no pressure from the spring on the top hat without the weight of the car on the strut. if i can actually get these on correctly i am going to write a G2IC newbie spring/shock install guide for everyone who is going to be tackling this for the first time, since not only are there no step-by-step instructions for our cars online but there are none that include instructions both for lowering springs/coilovers AND springs that are either stock or lower minimally (i am usin H&R OE sport, .75" lowering).
