I just got some new KYB struts, and brought them to a machinist who seemed competent to compress the springs and swap out my struts. I noticed he wasn't paying much attention to the grease pen mark he made, and was just roughly eyeballing it. When I mentioned it looked a bit twisted, he said not to worry, I could just rotate it on the car.
I cannot.
I contacted KYB and they said my plate does not have bearings and does not rotate. They said I could maybe adjust it a little, but not too much. One of them is ~20 degrees off.
Since I already paid the guy, I think I should bring it back, but my question is this:
Without appropriate markings, and without the car present, how can you tell what rotational position the plate should be in relation to the coil/strut?

 

What vehicle are you talking about. It sounds like youre talking about a shock, not a strut. As far as I know most honda models didnt use struts until the early 00s.

Just bolt it in up top and put a screwdriver or something through the bottom and twist it

 

KYB calls them struts, so that's what I'm calling them. It's for a 1986 Honda Accord LXi 3-door 2.0L FI etc etc. Same ones for 86-89.
For the fronts, it's not obvious where to put a screwdriver.. I have a locking chain clamp, but the guy torqued the f out of the top nut, so I didn't get very far, and I'm worried about damaging the strut.

One other question, does a slightly off bolt angle through the fork stress out the control arm bushing too much? I know that thing takes a beating, but I imagine it's usually evenly distributed.

Thanks for your help!

 

KYB is just falling into the bad semantics. People think a coil-over shock is a "strut", but its not because its not locating the suspension. It would only be a strut if there was no upper control arm.

The piston and shaft are able to twist in relation to the shock body, so if you can put somethign through the bottom mount of the shock and twist it, its not going to damage anything. But if the spring pressure is too much to let it turn, youll just have to compress the spring a bit to get the pressure off.
You can usually rent a spring compressor from the auto parts store.

 

Spring compressors available at the major stores dont fit the front coils of 3rd gen Hondas. Combination of being too thick and tight and narrow. Was able to twist three into place, but boy the rears are a nightmare to install!
One of the fronts was too far out, so I walked it to the neighborhood shop and they graciously compressed it a bit and let me clock it to the right position for free.

 

FYI, the early Civics, like my '76, all had MacPherson struts in the front. AND, they last forever!

As to this particular case, I'd bring it back to the shop. You paid to have it done right. He says it's a small fix -- so let him FIX it, if it's so small.

Then find another Honda mechanic.