Thanks for the replies. Been thinking some more about it over the weekend, and still not sure exactly what I want. I was looking at bgreens pics in his thread (project "freak"), and kind of like how he has the a-pillar bars, I'm just thinking a little tighter to the body.
The problem I see with the plate is that that much 3/16 plate is gonna add around 100 pounds, about as high as it can go, for a minimal increase in strength.
I tried a couple CJ doors on it yesterday for the hell of it (buddy had his CJ-7 over here to put in a rear 60). The soft half door fit suprisingly well, and I think I could make one similar to it pretty easily. If I really wanted, I think I could even make it fit. the hard door stuck up a couple inches too high, plus the window sill is way too high. Hell of a lot lighter than my cut down Chevy door, though.
I started working on the front end the last couple days, and the external bar (at least near the a-pillar) definitly would make it easier to tie in the new fender bars. So far I just have the fenders off (which will be turned into skins), the core support off (which will go in the trash), and the old winch mount off. Basically I just have the hood on, and the winch sitting on top of the frame rails. Picked up the bender, now just have to figure out WTF I'm doing. :flipoff2:
Pete