Completion of reinforcement plates

The work on the front crossmember reinforcement plates has been completed, the only thing left to do is paint.

Welding the plates was a challenge since the plates are so much thicker than the metal that the crossmember is made of, so it was hard to find setting on the welder that would be hot enough but not so hot that it melts the crossmember metal. The way I welded it was I first ran a bead down the crack between the plate and the crossmember to seal the gap. Then I welded from top to bottom in small pieces to seal it all up.

Once all the welding was done we ground the high spots down and smoothed the welded surface down to make it easier to paint. I ran into a couple problems. I ended up burning through the metal of the crossmember because I forgot it was a lot thinner than the plate metal. I ended up grinding too far and went right through and i ended up having to patch it closed with the welder and ground it back down.

This is the side of the crossmember that I burned through with the grinder. 

On the top right you can see there is a bit of a bulge where the repair is.