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The following pictures represent one way to make a hydraulic strut out of factory McPherson struts. This was done for the front end of a 1990 Cadillac Sedan Deville.

An 8" Showtime competition hydraulic cylinder and a regular metal pipe.	To fit over the cylinder, the inside of the metal pipe had to be slightly cut out with a lathe.
The pipe makes up the difference when the cylinder gets put into the factory strut.	The hydraulic fittings that will be used: 1/2" to 3/8" straight, 3/8" to 3/8" elbow, and 3/8" to #6 elbow.
The top was cut off of the factory strut, the shock inside was taken out and then a 7/8" hole was drilled at the bottom in the side to have access to the fittings.	After the pipe and cylinder were slid into the strut and the fittings were put on and tightened down, the cylinder was welded in the strut securely.
The cylinder was welded about an inch down from the collar to leave open future access for changing seals.	The strut was primered and painted black to make it look good and prevent it from rusting.
The hydraulic strut could have been put back on the car with the factory spring and factory mounting hardware.	But, to let the car sit as low as possible, I opted to delete the spring. A cup is used to distribute weight.
A regular spring cup was used under the upper mounting plate to distribute the weight.	The cup was put upside down in a piece of rubber to help keep it quiet.
Here it is installed on the strut/cylinder.	And how it looks bolted on the car.
Since no spring would be used, accumulators were added to the front pump off the dumps in the trunk.	The hydraulic hose was run from the trunk to the top side of the strut housing up under the hood.
The hose is then put through the housing with fittings and an 18" hose runs down to the hydraulic strut.	The hydraulic strut is bolted back in (a grade 8 bolt was used up top) and then hooked up to hose.
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