IMHO do yourself a favor and cut a few pieces or take several pieces of scrap and practice fusing them vs laying a bead on plate. There's a difference in feel and how the puddle reacts at a joint when compared to the center of a piece of steel. When I first started welding I had a number of 'sculptures' made from various thicknesses of steel and random junk jeep parts. 
--Ian
IMHO do yourself a favor and cut a few pieces or take several pieces of scrap and practice fusing them vs laying a bead on plate. There's a difference in feel and how the puddle reacts at a joint when compared to the center of a piece of steel. When I first started welding I had a number of 'sculptures' made from various thicknesses of steel and random junk jeep parts.
--Ian
X2. Especially when it comes time to join 1/8" to 1/4".
You will have to spend more time on the thicker side to get enough heat on it without burning thru the thinner side.
Another good tip I learned when doing FCAW is to remove the nozzle from the end of the gun.
It makes it way easier to see what you are doing. 
Didn't get done today what I wanted... Had to work on my mom's car. Did get a chance to set up the saw, cut a short piece of 1/8" flat bar and weld it to the angle. First is the one I did horizontal, then a vertical piece. Hammered on it to check for strength and it bent just before the welds. The vertical one is two passes, had feed issues with the first so it gave a bumpy surface for the second.
When cutting miters I always lay it down and just make a soapstone line in the general direction of the cut. It's easy to get confused when making a bunch of miter cuts. Especially when using a chop saw that only cuts 45* in one direction which means flipping angle 2 different ways.
Lol famous last words. Screwed up the first cut. The length was dead on, but put the angle on the wrong side. Realized it before I lifted the saw arm. Which was a minute too late. So now I have enough steel for the sides and either the front or rear piece. The question is do I buy a new section, butt weld two of the scrap lengths to make a longer piece or recess the receiver tube by joining two lengths around the receiver? The second two options are harder, but I wouldn't mind doing the extra work and recessing the receiver. I was originally just going to weld it under the frame.
Id recess the receiver. Since your are going to cut through the piece entirely to get your extra length, Id put some angled braces from the back of the receiver to the sides as an extra precaution. I guess if you go that route it kinda defeats the purpose of not buying more steel, unless you have something laying around....
Just out of curiosity what size is the piece you screwed up?
You could just make it narrower and use Jims axle. ;D
If you can I would probably use the spliced section at the rear rather than the front.
A lot more forces at the front because of the tongue being there.
What kind of saw are you using?
I think it would probably work like that as long as its braced well. My only concern would be that it might be a bit of a pain to keep completely straight/ square when you weld it together and add the receiver. 
Any recent pictures? FWIW, I've had pretty good luck with the hammered Rust-Oleum roll-on paint. Used it on part of the frame of my popup camper.
Haven't been doing any photos... usually too dark by time I finish to show anything good. At this point, I guess I'll wait until it's on tires. 
I'm hoping that'll be Thursday.
Umm, anybody have a gorilla that I can borrow for a few minutes?
Holy Schniekes Superman!! Do you have a big enough torque wrench? I could swing by after work if you do. Text me and let me know.
I'm no gorilla by far but I'm close by and can help out if you need me. Text me.
I suppose hammer it with a powerful impact for a minute.
http://www.northerntool.com/sh…oduct_200627236_200627236
EDIT: this wrench covers the range you need and is 42 inches in length. sucks it's so expensive.
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