I have a 2 door XJ. I bought these hinge braces and latch braces. I've never welded before, but I have a friend that has worked in a shop and will do it for me. My question is what kind of welds should be done? I'm reading the forum and people have given pretty specific instructions for frame stiffeners. I'm wondering if these hinge and latch braces need to be welded in any particular pattern? Just fielding out any advice before I start since you folks know what you're talking about and are far more experienced than myself.

Also, how should they be prepped? I was going to clean off the burrs and then prime them with weldable zinc primer. Any other suggestions? Should they be sand blasted? Won't that make the primer stick a lot better? Not doing this today or even this month. Going to wait and read some of the replies first.

 

I have to get some other items sand blasted anyway so I was thinking about adding these items to the lot if it was necessary.