What Welder to get?

this one is by far not worth $200. get one which works with gas e.g. 110v lincoln which is about $50-70 more. flux core melts sheet metal, and I would say is more expensive than solid wire with tank and gas for one project.

I have a small flux in wire Lincoln. It is ok for real light stuff. You are far better off to spend a little more and get a nice mig if you are going to use is often. When I restored my I used a fairly small 110v Lincoln. Have sinced upgraded to a larger Miller.
Its the old tool for every job thing.
Maybe consider just having someone weld it for you. Might be less expensive than you think.

My one suggestion would to over buy. Once you have a tool you didn't have before, you will find yourself using it ALL the time. I understand a budget. But it's always worse to re-buy.

THis issue has been discussed extensivily. If you run a search in this you will find a ton of information. Like this: http://forums.stangnet.com/667942-should-i-get-welder.html

I personally don't agree that you need a 220 welder as stated in that older thread. For what sj9ers says he wants to do with it (ie. floor pans and filling holes) a 110 will do just fine. Combine that with the fact that he's a first time welder and on a budget and I would doubly recommend the less expensive 110 to start.

I've got a 10 yr old Lincoln Weld Pak 100 that I've used the heck out of and had no complaints. Sure I'd like a bigger welder now, but when I first started this was a great one to learn on. But it's not so anemic that I grew out of it in 6 months. If I upgrade now I'll still keep the 110 for smaller, more portable stuff.

If you're on a budget you can spend less initially because it's a flux core welder out of the box. Then as you get used to it and save up a bit more money you can buy the gas conversion kit, which will definitely help your welds.

The Clarke linked above seems a little on the cheap side. I can't comment on that specific machine, but $200 is a little too cheap IMHO.

For home use that's what I did. I got the biggest 120v welder I could find. You get what you pay for is true when it comes to welders. But for work, the 220v welder gets a workout.

I've had an Astro Pneumatic 120 for 15 years and have been pretty happy with it. I have restored two vehicles with it. At one point I had to replace a couple of parts in the wire feed assembly and also eventually put a better regulator on it. Definitely worth the $275 I paid (15 years ago)

T900enforcer