What welder?

1968-coupe said:

I have to replace my floor pans in my 68 coupe, lot of little holes, ... But im not sure what welder to use.

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I bought the cheap $80 dollar blue Flux core welder from Harbor Freight. For thicker stuff like quarter (coin) thickness or more it works decent, lots of splatter though, HOWEVER it burns right through my 1968 Mustang sheet metal. It claims to do 18 guage sheet metal but that's over hyped. Yes I tried both the cheap wire it comes with and Lincoln brand I bought at Home Depot. So you need a MIG that obviously uses gas. The name brands like Lincoln and Miller do 24 gauge steel so they will work beautifully. I have my mind set on the Eastwood jobbie because it also claims to do 24 gauge but it plugs in to your 110 volt circuit so you don't have to have 220 like the other ones.

I highly encourage you to check out this guys post he is friggen hillarious:

Welding Practice

Lacking a 220V line in my barn, I went with a 100 amp Lincoln and shielded wire. It did okay, but okay wasn't what I wanted. I gave it away and bought a 140 and added a bottle of CO2/Argon. It's like night and day. You can get by on an inexpensive welder. I would suggest, however, that you get the best you can afford. Welds, like brakes, are one of those things that you can't afford to have fail.

I have a craftsmen mig welder (110 volt) that I've been using for ten years now without issue. It's essentially a Lincoln welder reboxed.

I got a clarke mig (w/ gas). It was the cheapest one, no issues with it.

yes on the mig, unless you can afford a tig (though not sure how they do on sheet metal). I think mig will be the easiest for sheet metal.

The welder im planning on getting ths summer is a Miller Auto feed. For about $800, it does some awesome welds. You just tell it what size metal your welding, and what size wire your using, and it does the rest.

I got a Lincoln MIG 175 off ebay a few years back and I have done enough money saving and repair projects with it that it has easily paid for itself.
Just look at it this way - how much would it cost to pay someone to do the floor for you? If the welder is less than that - or if you will use it for other projects down the road - spring for a Lincoln or Miller MIG.

Other thoughts:
Be sure to practice A LOT before you put the fire stick to your car. Read the manual/watch the video that comes with the welder. Learn what a proper MIG arc looks (and, more importantly, sounds) like. Practice closing up holes in sheet metal because you WILL blow through some sheet metal on the Mustang. That's actually the worst part about welding on an old car - trying to weld a nice fresh piece of metal to the existing metal and finding out that the existing metal isn't as solid as you thought by blowing a big hole in it. I've learned to cleanly bridge some big gaps working on my car.

Get a good 4" angle grinder with grinding and sanding discs to clean up the welding surface and finish welds and I highly recommend the 3" pneumatic die grinder from Harbor Freight. It cut my old floorpan like butter - and I managed to do the whole job with 1 cutting disc. A self darkening welding helmet is a must. I managed without one for a couple of years but after I got one I don't know how I ever got by without.

Finally, you'll need a tank of 75/25 argon/co2 shielding gas. Just buy one from a local welding supply house. While you're there, see if they do any free welding classes. The place near my home (Airgas I think) used to do a free class on Saturdays about 2x/month. They supplied the welders, metal, etc.

Good Luck!

I found mine on Craigs list. It was a blue point (cheap Snap-On) and found it for $125 and works great. You can also look at city or school auctions. They wiill sometimes have really good equipment for about the same you could buy a cheap home unit for.

I had a little Lincoln 125 MIG, upgraded to a Millermatic 180 Auto feed. Its a 220 welder but was definately worth the money. Much finer control of the heat makes it so much easier to weld.