I’m pretty good at welding. Not perfect of course. The plate they provide seems to be 1/8” but is more like 1.5”*5” or so, with a nut welded onto the back and two holes for retaining screws.
I’m thinking that I could cut a hole just big enough for the nut to fit through, grind down the paint, and then fit the plate flush against the pillar, held in place by two self-tapping screws, followed by a few tac-welds and then going through and welding around the entire perimeter.
I think that may be good enough
Edit to add: I plan on taking pictures of the entire process and creating a how-to of this
