I have some round tubing that perfectly touches all the crimped inward pieces of the A pillar. I have heard of the "rosette" welding technique and have even used it on several occasions before I knew what it was called. I was thinking of cutting a slit in the pillars longways, and welding the tubing in that way? Or should I just drill a few holes per side and weld them together. I was thinking a slit welded up would create more strength, but I want to hear other opinions before proceeding.
The recognized authority on body repair procedures is ICAR. They are an organization sets standards that are widely used in the repair industry. The procedure recommended for splicing pillars is to sleeve the joint inside which is easiest and strongest when using a section of the pillar itself. The removed section of pillar when chopping is ideal for this purpose. The recommended approach is to drill holes in the pillar, near the joint line, insert the sleeve with an inch or so of sleeve either side of the joint and leaving a small gap, 1/16" to 1/8", at the joint itself. This gap, when welded , joins the sleeve material to the pillar and in combination with the rosettes welds provides the strongest joint. This method provides 360* reinforcement of the joint. Ray
what Ray said. When I chopped my truck I took the part that was cut out and cut a lenghtwise slit in it. Then the part was compressed slightly to fit it into the piller. You may need to do several cuts to make it fit depending on the shape of the windshield piller.
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