[Bistineau]

Remove the bolt, put it on a flat solid surface(preferably steel) and give it a few good whacks with a 2-3# hammer. You sure it's not supposed to have that bend in it? You might want to look where it is going to be mounted to make sure before you try straightening it, otherwise you may be back asking how to put the bend back in it.

 

[Bistineau]

Funny thing was I was thinking about learning welding, was looking at buying a Lincoln Electric K1297 AC/DC 225/125 Arc Welder to play around with. Wasn't sure if I'd end up killing myself or not though. Going to browse around and see what I can learn.

Thanks all.

KN

Go ahead and invest in the welder and learn how to do it correctly. You will get lots of help here from forum members in the process. If you are gong to need more parts like you have shown, then you will be able to save a lot of money making them yourself. However, be warned you will spend WAYYYYY more than you save in getting the welding equipment and the accessories that go along with it. It can be a slippery slope once you get your feet wet and catch the welding bug. You will find there are tools you never knew about that you suddenly have a use for to make project building easier/better. So go ahead and dive in head first down that slope, like so many of us before you have done.:cool2:
That piece you have was MIG welded, but it can also be done with stick and TIG. It looks like you have already selected a decent machine to start with, unlike some newbies who want to go cheap with a Harbor Fright(or other cheap welder) welder to save money while they decide if they want to get deeper into welding and end up frustrated with the whole idea because the machine is faulty and they don't have the experience with welding to realize it and think it is them that is doing something wrong. So avoid this by investing in quality welding equipment to eliminate that as a reason for trouble learning to weld.
You have joined this forum now, so go ahead and look around, read and ask questions. Just be sure to check in regularly when you ask a question, because around here you can start getting answers within minutes of posting at times. There have been some new members that made a post, asking about something, and did not check back for 4-5 days and by then had 20+ responses, with some thinking they are some sort of troll that's messing with us.:angry:

Be sure to add your location to your profile so we will know where your coming from. There may be some members in your area who are willing to show you how to weld and help you get started right. Can't hurt, and may be very beneficial to you.

 

[Bistineau]

Heat the bend area to red hot with a torch and slowly bend it back in shape. Hammering might not be the best approach considering the weld.

This is a newbie who has no welding equipment at the time, so I doubt the torch is an option at this point. Besides if the weld can't take a little hammer action, how is it supposed to do it's job as part of a skid plate on a vehicle? If it breaks from a little bit of hammering then it is unsuitable as a skid plate part.