Lets talk welders...

I have a Lincoln Mig Pak 10 and it works great.It comes ready to use gas so you don't have to buy a kit.My first bottle with the fill was about $140 Canadian.Refills are done on an exchange basis so I never have the same bottle twice.I had a Clarke 90EN welder before that which was just flux core.I can't say anything bad about it, I used it for about 10 yrs with no problems and now my brother uses it.The duty cycle on the Clarke became an issue on any big projects but you could work around it.The Lincoln with the gas and .023 wire is a lot easier to weld sheetmetal than the Clarke was with the .035 flux core.I use my arc welder for anything over 1/4" but if you think you might need to do thicker stuff and only want one welder there is a Lincoln Mig Pak 15 which is 220V for a little more money.

Arc welders are pretty good once you learn how to use them. Sometimes striking an arc can be a pain. For doing stuff like body work the mig is more practical because you're doing short welds. Doing those with an arc welder can be a PITA. On the plus side, arc welds are very strong. And if you know what you're doing you can lay down some really nice beads.

If you are a beginner welder, Arc welding will not do you any good for welding sheet metal body panels. MIG is the easiest form of welding to leard, period. Not using gas is not MIG welding (Metal Inert Gas, aka GMAW - Gas Metal Arc Welding), that's FCAW or Flux Cored Arc Welding. You want gas, it's so much nicer and easier. You also want as much amperage as you can get for the other things you'll do besides sheet metal (and believe me, you will use it for many things).

A buddy and I went in together on a Miller 130A 110v several years ago. It was $600 with the gas kit. The bottle filled with gas was $90 and every time we take it in, it costs about $20-$25 to trade it on another bottle. We also have the smallest bottle. We "own" (actually rent I think, for a one time fee) the bottle but never get the same bottle back. I don't believe you can own your own bottles anymore unless you're grandfathered in. This is for your own safety as the bottles need to be pressure tested every so many years. By swapping them out everytime, they can make sure they're up to snuff and you also don't have to wait to get them filled up, you just swap and go. We use AirGas with is a pretty large company and has many "dealerships" across the USA.

I could legally weld in a NHRA legal roll cage with this welder (if I were certified) that would be mild steel and the thickest wall tubing would be .134". A 'moly cage has to be TIG welded in (my next welding purchase ... $1600 )

There's nothing wrong with getting a reman unit as long as it was remaned by the original company. Think about it, it was something that was wrong with it when it was initially built and somehow made it thru testing. It's now been caught and corrected and is basically a new unit at a discounted price although it may have a minor scratch or two. You might also ask your local welding dealer if he has any repos that you could buy. You might find a used 185A 220v machine for a 135A 110v new price. They typically check these machines out before reselling them. With a 220v machine, you could build a trailer to haul your car.

I was just about to ask this question when I seen your post, I was at Sears today looking at welders and all they had was the 199 dollar gasless wire feed. I think im going to get this model, they sell it on the website, its the same Lincoln you posted.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/prod...vertical=TOOL&com.broadvision.session.new=Yes

I figure for 320 shipped I can teach myself how to weld and do the floorpans and rust repairs myself and save a few thousand dollars. After this I just need a good compressor and im set, Sears has a 30gal 5HP model on sale for $259 which looks good to me.

One question, I heard for floorpans you tack weld, How do you tack weld? also when I sit the new pans in there is spaces were the old grooves in the floor dont meet the new ones, do I have to weld in a peice of metal to cover them up?

Thanks,
Jim