obviously it takes more time and energy to do a half door instead of tube. But like others have said, to have the freedom to mount speakers and have more overall coverage is kinda nice.
As far as the latch goes.. its very simple if you want to use the original handles and just modify them. You can create a setup where it looks like a door lock, just hit it down "like your locking a vehicle" and it opens the door. All spring actuated and its pretty easy.
