Hi all, It's all new to me.

[mrmonkeyman]

Hi all, My name is john and I recently inherited a car from my dad, it hasn't been on the road in about 10 years. The mechanics doesn't bother me but the body does I've not done any welding before so i really need some help, What do I need? and where, if I need to, can i do a course?
A mate said mig was easiest and quickest which is why I'm here, Any help would be great thanks

 

[the snooper]

mig is the easiest for car repair get the best you can afford if you will be using it alot and practice there are 3 options for gas pure co2 if you can get a pub bottle they are cheap then there is argon / co2 mix, welds a lot better or there is gasless which uses a fluxed wire the wire for the last is more expensive also expensive are the small hobby disposable gas canisters not worth a thought if you have lots of welding

 

[mrmonkeyman]

thanks for the advice, I have loads of questions which is bound to annoy, sorry,Reading your "learn to weld" section there seems to be a lot invovled in the set up for different metal guages. Is there somewhere i can go and learn all this stuff or do i just get to it. I don't want to buy a welder that will be no good for the jobs i need to do. cheers john

 

[Wozzaaah]

Hi John, I'd suggest that you trawl through the 'buying a welder' section for a bit more insight into what you need but basically if it's just bodywork thickness (or thereabouts) then pretty much any low powered mig welder will do you as long as the minimum current isn't too high. If it's too high (some of the cheaper ones about start at a ridiculous 60A!) then you'll struggle not to blow holes in the thin panels.
Look at the specs for a machine and it will say something like 30-130A, that's the lowest and highest current settings, the lower the better for bodywork.
Most small machines start at around the 30A mark, some go as low as 25.
Using smaller diameter wire helps lower the current too, 0.6mm diameter rather than 0.8mm.
If you're on a tight budget then consider something like a Clarke pro 90, it's 25-90 amps so plenty good enough for bodywork but it comes set up to use disposable cylinders which don't last long so factor in a regulator and connection kit for refillable cylinders.
Also factor in gloves, goggles, welding mask (the hand held one that is supplied with machines is next to useless), spare tips, shrouds, gas etc....it soon adds up to a fair bit on top of the machine price.