strut bending tool
A bronze strut can be straightened with simple tools. It is fairly forgiving material. If possible, you dont want to whack it or leverage against the attach point but rather just bend the free end of the strut.
I may told this story before, I couldnt find it in the threads. When I replaced my shaft on my 36C, I noticed the strut was maybe 1/2" out of alignment. I built a 3-point bend clamp as shown in the pic below. The strut is clamped between the plate with risers and the bar. By tightening on the bolts, the strut is deflected. I had a broom stick in the position the shaft should be; inserted to the engine coupling and upper sleeve to point me to the location the strut should be. I kept tightening until the bore aligned with the shaft. If you start bending the strut near the hull you can make big corrections. As you get near the correct position, slide the tool toward the end of the strut, and you can make the finer corrections without fear of over bending. There will also be springback, so you will have to find your confidence as you approach the final position. In general, it is best to avoid too much bending back and forth.