Okay, the first strut is out, in, and remounted. YEAH! I completed the passenger side first, which was the one that hadn't failed yet. I used pb blaster and an air hammer, and the gland nut came off relatively easily.

Driver's side is a different story. This strut had failed. Air hammer is acting like a chisel, and the gripping surfaces of the gland nut are just disintegrating. This is the original strut, and it's like I'm playing with silly putty - the top part is actually delaminating from the threaded part. Corrosion is definitely an issue, and I've soaked it with pb two nights in a row.

I've read that I'm not supposed to use a pipe wrench on the strut tube, so are there any other ideas on how I might successfully detach the old gland nut without destroying the tube and/or threads?

Oh, strut is tipped out of the wheel well at this point.

Thanks so much for any suggestions!

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can get Junior on the road.
ezsha
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'84 244, Peter, never drove. Robbed to fix Paul, '86 244 - drove for 2 years; holey saint now, passing parts to Paul Jr, '90 244, yet to drive. Friends w/ '90 245, jokingly aka Mary, (pregnant sedan & completes PPM trilogy). Daughter to unnamed '90 745.