I once welded some bottom strut mounts on a set of JIC (? might be wrong on the brand, been a while) struts off a 240SX for a custom install on a Z31 300ZX. The struts weren't rebuildable, so I extended them as far as they would go and did my welds about 1/4" at a time, then sprayed with water and let them cool before going to the next weld. They didn't explode, burn or break so it must have worked. 
O.K. I'm going to confess some ignorance here. As I understand it, there are high pressure McPherson struts with rubber o rings, some type of oil, and other assorted sensitive internal parts and you guys are welding on them? Am I missing something?
No, you pull the guts out of the housing, weld your stuff up and then put inserts in. You don't weld on the strut - just the strut housing.
I've welded on shocks before. Like Curmudgeon said, you just keep the heat under control. Mine were factory Protege5 shocks (Bilstein, I think) that I was installing in a 323 GTX. I had wet rags wrapped around the shocks and a spray bottle of water - they probably get hotter during a fast run down a rough road. Take your time and there's no problem.
Keith wrote: I've welded on shocks before. Like Curmudgeon said, you just keep the heat under control.
Doh. I missed his post when I posted my reply.
That's more excitement than I want for a while. I called Koni last week- I'm using 8610s in the front and they have to ship from Europe. So I won't have them 'till June. After that kind of wait, I'd sure hate to have to weld on them!
I'd have a different attitude about welding on those versus the set of take-off stock pieces I was messing with!
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