I finally got a pair of funky shaped vice grips and got the top cap off the strut pulled the shock and the mystry was solved ...
my strange orange shocks in the back that are made in mexico are......
mulholland's..?!
and leaking like an f-ing sive .. I pushed them down to pull them from under the fender and they didn't even pusk back up... they are toast!
took a break thought I would share the victory over 20 years of crap that built up on the struts..
mike