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!

If it were up to me, I would buy the gear and learn. Just my .02.
Do a search there are countless threads about this very subject. Good luck.

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.

is it a correct impression that MIG welders are more expensive than an AC Arc Welder? (thats the one ive read about so far..) lol

im still reading

Just bought a MIG .... Lincoln 215 .... about $1400

Then another $350 for the wire spool (2), Gas cylinder filled with mixed gas.

Makes welding easy .... I can even lay a good looking bead in a straight line and I'm not a welder.

With a "buzz box" and sticks, I can blow holes in anything it seems.

Get a 120v 15Amp mig welder. They will run between $350 and $500, $100 more if you add welding gas to it (true Mig). Go with either Lincoln or Miller, both are good welders, both cost about the same. The flux core wire does not require shielding gas, and the metal does not quitre need to be prepped as well, but is messier and harder to get the handle on. I'm cheap, so I just used flux cored wire.

Stepping up to shield gas will give you much prettier welds, a LOT less splatter and grinding, and you won't burn through as often.

I welded everything from 24 gauge sheet metal to 1/4 inch thick stock with my 120v welder. No problem. AND I did it fumbling and learneing my way through. if I can do it, so can you.

A new arc welder (buzz box) will be great if you are welding thicker metal, but on sheet metal, it is going to burn right through. it is cheaper ($250 or so) but you don't want it for your 914.

Zach

WOW..wasnt expecting to spend that much... not anytime soon lol... poor college kid

should i look used like pawn shops and stuff??

i have a friend with a welder (not sure what kind) but they do a lot of car stuff (brother is into lifted trucks).. i could borrow it and learn on it i guess and just buy materials... my girlfriend's dad also offered his welder and expertise... should i take em up on these offers?

consensus IS that it is something i can do myself??

This is a nice little welder for the price, can be purchased on sale at times for under 300 bucks.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/sto...32691_200332691

Buy the welder and do it yourself, in the end, you will have a fixed car, a welder, and you will know how to weld. If you just pay for someone to do it, you will be out the money (probably more than the welder) and you will end up with only a fixed car.

Definitely borrow if you can't buy.

Figure you're going to spend roughly $500 on a welder and shielding gas to get started minimum. When you're done you still have the welder and can use it on other projects. From what you've described, you can probably get a pro to weld your stuff for you for maybe a couple hundred? Depends on your finances. When I was in school I had no place to store a welder. Also my school had a weld shop. You may be able to find someone on campus to weld your patches.

You can get one for $350 plus $80 for a gas tank (small bottle). Bottle recharges are about $16.00 locally.

I agree with Zach on a 110V model. that will do anything you need to do on the car. I prefer shielding gas (C02/Argon) and not flux core. Get a big tank too. I love my Miller, but also like the Lincolns. Be sure to get one with a gas conversion kit (so you don't have to buy it separately)

I have more than paid for mine with the projects that I have done. But I wanted to do more welding than just the car.

Here is a good deal on a lincoln SP 135 T with free shipping - add a tank, helmet (you can get auto dimming helmets from harbor frieght that work good for $50), welding gloves and tips (tips are consumable). I would get one with a .023 liner & tip for using .023 wire for doing light panel work on a car.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Genuine-LINCOLN-sp-135...1QQcmdZViewItem

+1 to what Zach said.

Many argue to take it to the next level and buy a better MIG, but frankly for thin metal jobs the 120V machine is perfectly adequate.

As for your hire or buy decision: The one thing you get with a purchase, is the convenience of doing the welding on you own schedule. The down side (if you look at it in those terms), is that you will have to learn how to weld....I think that's a good thing.

Andys

Take a class in welding first. I learned first in high school but later took a community college class as a refresher. It takes practice and using your 914 isn't a good idea for that. You need instruction so you'll know the MIG welding sound and see the correct welding bead.

I have a Sears Craftsman 120v, 20amp welder with gas and an aluminum conversion kit. It can use flux core wire. I only weld with gas (though I have experience with flux wire). I originally bought my welder for car projects but I've used it to build small projects at home and when others found out I could weld I also did other small repairs for friends - fix the legs on a metal table, fix a 75 year old shovel, fix a support strut on a plow, fix the ripped metal on our gazebo when the wind knocked it over, etc.

It is a great skill but see if you can do it first. If you're mechanically inclinded, been working on automobiles, etc, then you'll likely pick up on it quickly. Get instruction from whomever you can and practice before you buy.

I faced the same question about a month back: have my brother or another buddy do the welding (which meant trailering the car to them and on their schedule) or buy a welder and learn to do it myself. I ended up buying a new Lincoln SP135T (120 volt welder) for about $425 w/free shipping from a place in Appleton, WI. I bought a nice, used bottle off of Craigslist locally for $40. Bought an autodarkening helmet form Northern Tool for $50 and a welding cart (not a necessity) also from Northern Tool for $50. My brother brought over a bunch of scrap for me to practice on and I'll start by welding patches in the rear firewall where no one will see before progressing to other areas of the car.

Complete welding setup: $565.00

Having the equipment and know-how to DIY: Priceless

Seriously. For ~$600 you can really be set up to weld anything up to 1/4 inch thick - which is way thicker then what you will use on your car.

Welding classes are nice - but you don't _really_ need them. You need some balls and scrap metal and a willingness to try a bunch of things that won't work, and fix things that don't come out perfect.

I looked at taking a welding class, and realized that I did not have time. Instead, I read all I could (online, and I book I got from Lowes). I practiced butt welding 1/16th inch walled square tube together. Each time I welded the tube together, I tried to break it apart. The first few times it was easy to break apart. Then I had to use a hammer to break the weld. After 2 hours of trial and error, I was unable to break the weld without cutting it apart (which I did to see what a good weld looked like).

Then I practiced on thin sheet metal. Weld, break, clean, weld etc until I could do it strong. This all took an afternoon.

Then I moved to my car,and got cracking. My welds are not pretty things, but after welding in the front trunk, I got in it, and started jumping up and down on it ( I weight 205, so thats a fair bit of force), and the front trunk floor never budged.

Welding is easy to learn, and hard to learn to do pretty. Dive in and do it. by the time you are done with the car, you will be activly looking for other things to weld together. its seriously fun.

Zach

One more thing.

Get an auto darkening helmet. most kits come with a hand held shield. it works, but it is so dark that you can't see a thing until you strike that arc. For me, the difference between failing and fun, was a relativly cheap ($50) auto-darkening helmet fro HF.

Zach

This isn't bad:

http://www.weldingmart.com/Qstore/p003436.htm

In college I had no place for for a car. I definately could not afford to fix up a car. That use to be the cool, cheaper thing to do. It is cheaper... than buying a new car. But call me conservative, I would have to have the resources in place before starting a project of this magnitude.

Borrow the tools you need from friends and parents. Save the $500 you would spend on welding supplies for new parts. Have your friends and family who have the tools give you some guidence as to how to use them but do the majority of the work yourself.

While not necessary, I took a 3 day class through one of the local schools, and while we weren't doing sheet metal I got to learn the basics quickly, and how to know when I'm welding correctly.
After taking the class I practiced on scrap sheet metal for about a month and then proceeded to make my repairs. Lots of resources on how to weld properly on the net too.

Keep an eye on your local craigs list too, I was able to pick up a Lincoln 120volt MIG w/a full size tank for $450 bucks.
It's worked fine for everything I've had to do on the car (floor pan, longs, sway bar install, trunk repair).

Get a welder!

That's the place I bought my Lincoln from. It was on sale with free shipping. Hard to beat.

I had the same problem. Spring for the welder, and you'll come out way in front. You DON'T need to spend over a grand... and you don't NEED gas, though it's nice to have. With the prices over there, you can probably get a decent mig welder for the cost of a case of beer (good beer, that is!)

I did mine with 0.8mm gasless wire, mostly. Gas is neater, gasless is cheaper (I was using disposable bottles).

Take a course if you can, otherwise go here. That's where I learned to weld.

Here's my floorpan thread.