I threw in the towel.
I took off the wheel to look at the strut itself, and it's rust welded, as are the brake lines, and pretty much everything else under there. If I lived somewhere without safety inspections I would probably just drive it into the ground, but they're going to say I need a new catalytic converter, rear and front brake pads, struts, strut towers (hah) just to pass. Then I would need to do timing belt, serpentine belt, water pump, cam shaft seal, oil pan gasket seal, learn to weld, weld the towers etc... Soon approaching the amount of money I paid for it. Should have just never checked the towers...
Thanks for the hope for a little while. Was fun to dream, but the rust belt had its way with this rig (and every other escort around here). I don't think the NY state inspection would let it slide any time soon without at least another 600 dollars in parts alone, so it's just not worth the effort. If I was back in Alaska, I might drive it around town until it died, but not worth the fines around here...