Mounting of the Tree inside a Funny Car Body

Just about finished building a funny car and are working on the body ready for paint, And just thinking and do you guys just bolt the tree to the body or fibreglass the pads on the end of the tree struts to the body as well.
And any throught on having a aluminium pads on the outside of the body bolted through the body to the pad on the end of the tree struts is this necessary or a good idea, we are looking to paint the body and not put a wrap over the body.
Do you paint or coat the tree struture to protect the metal from corrosion with what ?.

look forward to you guys advice.

 

body pads

I have done it both ways, some customers don't like the look of the aluminum pads bolted thru the body. I sand and clean the pads, rough up the fiberglass in the mounting pad area and glass them in. I like the pads on the out side better because it's not as messy as gluing the pads to the body, both ways work. Just depends on your preference.

 

Corrosion?