In addition to the some major panel repair/replacement on my Starliner I've also got several areas that require only minor surgery. I've got no welding experience, but my Uncle told me to pick up a low cost welder (< $100) and go at it. I've read some on the issue and it seems that most people prefer a TIG over a MIG and like gas over the wire feed. If I go the low cost approach then it would be a MIG wire or perhaps a standard stick (110v). I'm pretty handy and am not afraid to learn as I go. I don't want to go big as I have to have someone else do the major work anyway. Does this sound like a good idea or not? I have several small areas that only need filling without any patches, and the patches would be small (a few inches in places like the core support and not body panels). Thanks.
A cheap welder does not work for body work. They will cause more issues than they will help a decent miller or Lincoln flux core would work. But gas is best. Better learn how to mig before you think about tig. Maybe find a local car guy that can weld to help you?
Also no way on stick. Invest in a used mig welder. Minimum of $300 for an ok machine. Any less, steer clear.
a Mig (wire feed, with gas) will be a LOT cheaper and a MUCH quicker for you to learn than TIG. Buy a little mig setup 150-175 amp. It can do a wide range of tasks.
One other thing, don't learn to weld on your car. Weld a few hundred feet of beads on scrap stuff and then weld bunches of scrap together and se if you can knock it apart with a hammer. While you're enjoying the welding, be fixing anything on the car mechanical or electrical.It wouldn't hurt to read a welding manual either. THEN when you feel confident, lay to on the car stuff. Enjoy. Oh yeah, do get a torch and bottles sooner or later.
Your uncle is either telling you to go to harbor freight, Or he is living in 1960's prices. Regardless He is telling you wrong. Best thing for you to do is Go to a shop where real welders work, And offer to sweep floors, Hang out and learn what you can. Or find a buddy who is a welder and has time to teach you the basics. Do not waste your $99.00 on that joke of a machine from harbor freight. Save up and search the classifeds for a good used machine. However first thing you should do is go to the library and check out some books on welding. For what you are wanting to do Wire welding should be fine, But Stay away from flux core machines. A good 100-150 Amp mig machine with gas with some .023 mild steel wire will suit your needs just fine here. As far as you getting a tig machine, Slow down Grasshopper!!....Thats like the guy who works at quicktrip saying he is going to fly a F17 as soon as he is done taking the trash out.....No pun intended But learn the basics first. Lots of reading, One thing is for sure, Don't listen to No one unless they are a real welder. As I have heard and seen some of the Dumbest advice given by people who clearly Don't have a clue about welding. Nothing worse than learning to do something the wrong way. goodluck
If you have no welding experience dont waste your money on a tig. Tig takes alot of practice, specially to weld sheet metal without warping it to hell. Buy a wire welder (flux core) and play around with it. If you like it than buy a Yellow MIG of any type... Yellow is the best color for welders...
You didn't say what you are working on or what your end results are expected. Would it be better to just cave and pave at least when you are set up and ready to do the job correctly you wont have as big a mess to fix.
Don't let the welding intimidate you Don. It's more fun than it is difficult. Hobart Handler 140 is a very good mig welder for the money. Anything cheaper unless it's second hand and your probably buying an inferior product.. It will also accept gas when your are ready to use it on your patches. I didn't know a damn thing when I first got mine, and have now become pretty capable with it. PM me and I will be glad to help you any way I can.
Maybe I'm nuts, I've never done flux core on sheet metal but wouldn't solid wire be much easier to handle? I've never used a smaller and cheaper machine either so I wasn't sure if you could just switch rollers (and use gas) like you can on other machines
Yes, solid wire with shielding gas works better on sheet metal (less heat and warpage). You just spin the roller and switch the polarity and you can weld with flux core or solid with gas. Too easy... P.s. I replaced at least 75% of the metal in this car using flux core. I really didn't know anything, but it doesn't appear to have slowed me down. (picture 2 posts down)
The lower amp MIG gas welders typically run on a 110VAC supply so standard house outlets will work. My little Miller unit with bottle and cart ran me $600.00. Read about welding, talk to welders about welding, and practice welding with your own machine!
Stay away from the discount welding machines. Spend a couple extra bucks on a good machine. Beginners should stay away from any torch or tig welding. Flux core is ok but your best bet is get a decent solid wire mig with gas and go from there. Read books, ask questions and practice-practice-practice. The more you practice, the better feel you'll get for it. Every welder has their favorite machines, mine is Miller. Good luck!
Thanks! It had a funny car steering box made by Strange. I no longer own the T however. I traded it to a guy in Washington and he has now sold it to a man in Rhode Island. P.S. Don, make sure to get an auto-darkening helmet. You can get one for cheaps these days.
110V MIG machine with shielding gas, preferably 100 amps or more, and an auto darkening welding helmet. Then lots of practice on scraps until you're good. A couple tacks, then move somewhere else to spread your heat out, come back when it's cooled. An electric 4 1/2" grinder with cutoff wheels and a few flap disks is going to be another necessity to do sheetmetal repairs (if you have pinholes, you need to cut out a bigger area and replace it, pinholes on the front of a panel mean big time pits and thin steel on the back side) If you're on a low budget, an old hood or fender is great to cut up and make little patch panels out of, much cheaper than buying a big sheet of steel.
If you have a local community college you might look into an evening basic welding class, not too expensive and a real good way to learn.
Spend a little money at a community college welding cource. Great place to learn the basics and polish your skills. P.S. I welded my 28-29 rpu to a 30-31 model A back panel with a 7014 1/16 stick rod, not that hard.
I have reread the OP again and you say you are handy and want to learn. I would say get a torch setup and learn from there. That's were you start in school. Hell you can learn to weld the crack of dawn. sorry just had to say that
I took a welding class at the local JC, after welding for 30 years... My gas welding got a lot better. Karl
If you don't have a community college nearby, call a couple of welding suppliers and ask them where you could go to learn how to weld. Mention to them that you will be probably be buying a welding outfit from them too. Start with a small outfit, most suppliers will let you trade up for bigger bottles later. If you go this way, buy the best you can afford. The first torch that I bought was over 40 years ago, and I still use it all of the time. Start with gas and everything else will be easier.
"Cowtown" says it all!----Don't short change yourself by buying an inexpensive piece of equipt. Get a Lincoln 250 or Miller 250 .035 wire feed,with CO2, then lots of practice on scrap & gradually you will gain the confidence required.---Don--Welding since 1951.
This is the route to go,around here welding suppliers give tests for certifications needed in some industries. A small smith o/a is a great tool for a reasonable investment. If I was starting over,gas welding would be my focus.
Another vote for oxy-acetylene welding. It's the cheapest way to go and one of the best ways to weld sheet metal. Welding is all about fusing metal together. You don't need expensive MIG or TIG machines to accomplish this. Try it, you'll like it. Oh, and it's traditional.
Thanks for all the advice. In defense of my Uncle, he knows I have a budget and am limited on time so I think that a low cost unit would allow me play around and not take much of a hit should I not get into it. I could also use it “around the house” for stuff (fixing kids bikes, etc.). So he was just trying to help. My dad was a certified master mechanic and worked on cars for 45 years. When I was young I spent lots of hours watching him work and he always used a torch for welding (he also used lead, which was really fun to watch). So maybe that’s the route I should try. As I said, I’ve got some major work to farm out (my trunk floor is shot and the rockers are rusted through) so I need to look at it from a cost-benefit stand point. Someone told me that I had about $2,000 worth of panel and rust repair, so if I could get a unit and do some of the small stuff myself and break even then it would be worth it. So if I get a $600 unit and save $600 on panel repair then it seems like the way to go. If not, then I’d rather put the money into something else on the car. I like the idea of taking a class, but we don’t have a CC around here. Even if we did I work 50+ hours a week and we have 3 small kids, so I literally have only a couple hours per month to work on the car. I was hoping that filling some of the small panel rot would be a quick fix, but sounds like I need to rethink that too. I do have a grinder so that was another reason I was thinking of doing some of this myself.
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