2009 Pontiac G3 Top Shock Mount Woes

Evening chaps, me again. This time the G3 of Doom is giving me hassle with the top front shock mounts. It's been creaking like an old wooden ship lately, especially now winter has finally arrived, and I decided to do something about it. As per usual, I'm going at this all arse-about-face and have none of the proper tools (namely J42468 ) to complete the task. Nonetheless, I've managed to get the shock out of the car and the old top mount off. I neglected to check the new shock mount before I came to fit it, and this is where disaster struck.

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps7rqa30nb.jpg

The one on the left is probably original and the car's knocking on 95k miles now. The one on the right is a new KYB item (SM5451) I just received from RockAuto. Will the KYB fit? Is this how a new one is meant to look? Is it simply a case of the old one being so compacted from being left in way past its service interval that they no longer look alike? Is it the wrong part entirely?

It may work, but it seems GM redesigned the strut mounts a while back. They're a lot beefier and I bet last a good amount longer.

See here:
http://www.aveoforum.com/forum/f85/s...-mounts-17009/

Man, I wish I'd seen that post sooner. Since nobody replied to the post, I ended up just installing the KYB mounts and hoping for the best. The suspension definitely seems a bit more solid with less clunking over bumps, but the creak is still present. I think a proper overhaul is due, but I need to tackle the timing belt first. Who knows, I may even replace the strut mounts again with those OEM ones. Thanks for the advice.

Im suggestion coilovers for improved handling, and loading ability