Looking for hell hole welding advice Options

[AndrewBlyholder]

Launching in my hell hole rust repair. Need some advice on the usual welding technique for patching.

Many of the patch parts have flanges that match the factory stampings. I assume the factory spot welded these things together. Is that correct?

Don't have a spot welder, and probably couldn't reach most of these locations if I did. What's the usual technique then? Drill holes in the flanges and fill with rosette welds? Or just weld the edges of the flanges?

I'm replacing some sections of the main longitudinal tubes under the battery. That tube was a double walled on both the inside and outside faces. The replacement panel I have from AA has the double wall spot welded onto it. But how do I go about getting both panels weld together at the butt joint where the patch meets the original? Grind/cut the outer face back a little bit more than the inner panel, weld the inner first, and then weld up the outer?

Battery tray replacement questions:
- The lower support has three flanges on it. The front and side flange are easily accessible for welding, but the rear flange is turned inward. Do you weld that one too or leave it unwelded? What did the factory do there?
- The easy way to attach the battery tray to the support would be to weld them together first. Is that recommended? But if you do that, then there would be no way to weld the inward turned rear flange of the support.

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

Andrew Blyholder