Having a Gatso moment

Am i trying to compete with Gatso's eye to detail? I know its not that critical but Ive finally got round to welding the holes in my chassis rails that put the brakes on my overhaul. As i had to cut a section out of the bottom and sides, the question is, i want to piece in the bottom in one bit for strength but as im keeping all the repairs flush, the joint between the two halfs of the chassis would be missing. Anal i know but one answer would be to run a weld along the middle of the patch meeting up with the joints at either end of it. Anyone else come across this and were bothered?? I want it to be as invisible as possible.

mick the builder said:

i want to piece in the bottom in one bit for strength

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If you weld it properly then it makes no difference to strength whether it is one piece or two.

If you want it to be invisible, make it from the same gauge steel and form it in the same way as the original.

Personally I don't like 'invisible' repairs as most of the time a DIYer weld isn't a 100% penetration weld. You can't see the quality of the weld on the inside of the box and if you grind the outer bead off there might be only partial penetration leading to localised weaknesses which cannot be seen or appreciated. I'd rather be able to see were someone has let in fresh metal on a chassis.

With a name like Arc, i take it your a welder? I do like to see a good honest repair but trust myself enough to a decent job, although lying on my back welding over my head might be interesting. I was going to plate the inside of the chassis to add strength and give me something to weld onto rather than blowing holes straight through.

If it's the one in your other thread, it looks like the vehicle is pretty much dismantled, so would it be possible to turn the chassis over so that gravity is helping you hold the molten metal in place? Yes, if it bothers you just run a bead down the middle so it looks like a continuation of the factory chassis.

i didnt want to strip it down any further so will have to do some uphill welding. If it goes pear shaped it'll be my old friend Mr grinder who will make it look right. I think i will run a bead on the underneath section before i weld it in place. Im also going to plug weld some sections spanning the gap inside the rails to help with the strength. Ill take a few pics along the way.