At this point, we are 15hrs. We screwed up a couple pieces and spent a lot of time getting notches on the A pillars right. A, B, C pillars and front halo done. A and B pillars are tacked together in place, cutting holes in the floor to drop through for full welding. C and D pillars will most likely not be able to get fully welded (small I welded portion on the top.)
I debated doing a hybrid. Call me picky, but I just could not find a single one I liked the look of. The outside halos just look really doofy to me. Each tube pillar will be tied into its respective unibody pillar with steel plates 12-18" long. If I flop/roll, its gonna get fucked up. Hope is that it will mostly maintain its shape (see recent pics of the CrawlerReady ZJ) but that A pillar tie ins will preserve windshield frame shape mostly... Or enough to be massaged back to hold glass if damaged. I may regret keeping it all inside, but meh. My unibody and I will both feel much better about the abuse it sees now.
In my opinion, this is too much work for a cookie cutter pound it out and get paid kind of job. It's labor intensive getting things to fit just right. We agreed making a simple cage strictly for safety that fitted more loosely would go together much faster.
