Alfa Romeo Repair: Alfa 156 front coil springs, alignment shop, wheel alignment

Question
Hi there.. I have a Alfa 156 2l T-Spark and want to lower the suspension got the coil springs from the UK now there is no one in South Africa that is willing/able fit them..
I got the back springs in with no problem, but having a hard time getting the front ones out… My question is (a dumb one but really stuck), if there is any site that has a step by step breakdown on how to remove the front shock before I strip half the car just to remove it…  Thanks in advance Sean…  

Answer
First off: this is why you should reconsider lowering the vehicle for the public roads. 1) You will feel every bump in the road with exaggeration and clearance going over sidewalks and the like will be reduced and scrapping may be the order of the day, 2) You will introduce bump steer because the angle of the tie rods will be altered. Bump steer is the unintended turning when encountering a large one wheel rise or pot hole.

Now the how to. The shock and spring are to be removed from the vehicle as a unit and then a very strong spring compressor is needed to compress the spring to safely remove the top cap held by the nut in the center of the top mount.
You must read the camber before removing the unit so as the duplicate it after installation or take it to a wheel alignment shop. The connection points for this unit are the top wishbone at the bottom and the fender area at the top (held in by three or four studs). By the way, the single best way to improve handling is to use V rated tires.