Sorry Rob, I had the same problem and there isn't an easy solution.
I tried a lump hammer and drift to try to drive the adjusting rings round, but that just started taking chunks out of the rings and the springs stayed resolutely put after about a quarter of a turn.
I just had to bite the bullet and remove the spring and shock units each time I wanted to adjust them, that's the main reason why I left them in the 'wrong' position for so long.
One tip for getting the job done quicker is to take the shock units out as an assembly rather than trying to compress the springs in-situ. That then allows you to relieve the tension on the springs and adjust the ride height adjustment rings on the bench. It's obviously a good idea to work out how much you need to move the adjusters before you start though.
If you don't already know, to do this, first disconnect the steering rack ball joints from the hub control arms and remove the two bolts that attach the lower 'A' arms to the mounting brackets on the chassis. Then undo the three small nuts holding the unit in at the top and the lower bolt at the bottom of the shock. That will allow you to swing the lower 'A' arm out of the way and drop the shock/spring assembly out from below.
You may find that the lower bolts have been fitted with their heads inboard of the 'A' arms so they can't fall out if the nuts come off (that's how mine were on the donor). If that's the case you'll have to cut the heads off with a junior hacksaw and pull the bolt shafts out to release the lower arms from their brackets.
In true Hanyes Manual style, refitting the shock units is just a reversal of the removal process, and if you then fit new bolts with the heads outboard of the suspension arms it'll make it a lot quicker and easier if you need to adjust the ride height again, and you'd have to remove the mounting brackets to get them in from the inboard side anyway.
I hope all that makes sense and once you've got the lower 'A' arms parallel with the ground I think you'll be amazed by the difference it makes to the handling. I was.
Oh, I got the information on suspension settings from this article, and the author really seems to know his stuff -
http://auskellian.com/paul/links_fil...hancements.htm