Welding Woes, to buy and learn / to hire a pro Options

[stateofidleness]

So im almost to the point where welding will be happening on the ol' floorpans

Im wondering whether it is worth the investment to buy a welder and all the accessories needed for the job (could be pricey i presume) or whether it's best just to hire a shop to weld up the holes in my floorpan?

if i DO buy a welder (which i think could be fun and a neat thing to learn), what am i looking for? i have a few small pencil diameter holes to patch and a couple baseball size holes to replace in the corners...

what type of welder should i look for?
what type of welding is best?
what type of metal to use?
where can i buy a cheap welder and acc. needed? (as cheap as possible! i dont mind used)
best to hire a pro?

this would be my first time welding so id probably practice on other things first, but im willing to learn and do it right. ive also got an engman kit on the way, so it would be nice to be able to weld that in myself!

Thanks for the help!

[sgomes]

Buy the welder. No brainer. Where you start is up to you. I started with a Mig. It's pretty much a glue gun compared to other types of welding. I wanted something that I could actually produce welds that worked fairly quickly. I know my limitations and if I tried to do stick or oxy-acetylene first, I'd quickly become frustrated and give up. Now that I'm a competent welder I want to try the others. And now that I know what I'm looking at when I see a weld puddle I think I'll have more sucess. YMMV.