spring change nightmare

[woody]

Alright guys changing the springs on my 6 seen as I broke one into 3 pieces. And had the problem of getting the anti roll bar push rods off. Two bolts to hack off and seem to take forever' oh how I love the French car technology, anyhow got that sorted then after beating the strut apart from the wish bone and new springs in place bolted the top strut back in but the problem now is getting the bottom back into its seating/collar. Seems tight, tried to use the jack on the disk/wishbone to jack it back in but it just compresses the strut/spring. Do I need to wedge the collar open more or something as I did to beat it off. Or is there any other tips anyone else has. Any help would be great. Cheers guys