Second try, and still no luck. I have probably maxed out on the spacers I can add. I have a washer, a jamb nut, and a plastic spacer I made from some leftover parts from a wall mount kit for a flat screen TV. (The plastic spacers are heavy duty and like a thick ABS washer of sorts.)
First pic shows the "Frankestein" spacer stack. It provides right at a half-inch rise for the ball stud mount. I don't think I can go any higher at this point. I think I am getting close to the max clearance to the hood, and I have just enough threads underneath for a washer and the nut.
With the spacers in and everything in place, it still is making significant contact with the plastic trim pieces, flexing the strut (inner part), and pushing the trim pieces down (and you can see the rubber seal pulling away from inner fender) as the hood closes. The following is the hood bulge I have with them installed and the hood closed.
The last pic is the hood with the struts removed, just as a comparison. (Sorry for the blurry phone pic. I was trying to get the same angle as the last pic.)
I am not posting this follow up to take away from the effort put into making this kit available to the community. I really do appreciate the effort, time, and personal financial commitment involved. I am open to any suggestions, because this is a really neat mod, but for now I will just use the prop rod Nissan provided.