Wow, a lot has happened since Mike's post above - he's had my strut mod on for a while now!
I don't know exactly where my completed writeup went, but this picture tells the story. (EDIT, it's over <
here>.) You essentially split the strut's bottom bracket and keep just the part that mounts to the body. The hole in the bracket is rather large, so placing a washer inside it allows a ball stud to hold in place. No tapping, no place for wobbly bits, no grabbing the strut rod with vice grips, and no obstructions if you choose to blast/sand/paint. There's not much to it.
I know this is quite a bump, but the thread was linked to today, so I figured I'd finish my part!