[JesseK]

We've always done our frame in-tact, but it's also always welded by the sponsor that does the powder-coating.

A word of caution about color choice: if the sponsor purchases a special-order powder and you don't use all of the powder this year, next year the color will be "off". As an example, our purple is a specific rich, dark, royal purple at its best. Yet every other year it gets this red-wine tint to it. Usually no one can tell until we put it next to the previous year's robot.