My son came over this morning and helped me install the CF hood.... What an easy job. Take the factory one off and the new one just slips right on. It took longer to get the front hood stops and latch adjusted than to mount the hood. I still have to do the strut... but for now it works as a manual strut just sticking it between the latch and hood....
I emailed an outfit that does custom struts(LS Technologies Inc) and they said it would be best to just use the factory strut. They can adjust the pressure if I send it to them. Cost is $45 - $50... that sounds like a pretty fair deal considering what a new one is....