Hi there!

[Mikepollock]

Hi guys and girls!

My names mike! I'm 29 and from Southampton, England.

I have just got my hands on a mk1 Mazda mx5! and the sills are rotten and ive decided to give fixing it myself a go! this requires welding!
I was browsing the internet and found this place so thought i would join up!
I have never looked into welding let alone touched/used a welder so this is going to be a massive learning curve!
I intend to buy my first welder shortly after xmas and was looking at a clarke pro 90 mig welder for the repairs as the amperage minimum is 25 amps, which I hear is ideal for car bodywork? and partly because due to recent events my budget is tiny! and this one comes with everything required to get up and running!

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/pro-90-mig-welder/ - if you fancied having a browse!

Any input and advice is is welcomed!

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Tom Orrow L]

Welcome Mike! You'll find plenty of help here as and when you need it so do keep checking in
Lower the amps the better for car body work as its usually around, 0.8MM thick? Correct me if I'm wrong.

For the £215 that the clarke costs you might be able to find yourself a half decent set of ebay with a bit more quality about it, have a little browse & see what you can find see near you

 

[barracuda816]

Welcome,

The above advice is very good, esp about buying a decent bottle of gas, in my opinion it is definitely worth going for the boc argoshiled light deal. It is much nicer welding thin steel and works out alot cheaper than those little bottles. (also the flow is crap on those).

 

[Cobbler]

Hi there, great little car, the MX5, my wife's got one, well, she thinks it's hers! My sons got one as well, sat in my garage, halfway through an engine, gearbox & diff transplant to the VVT engine, 6 speed box plus a turbo. All come to a halt at the moment, but will get finished before next summer. There was a rebuild of a rotten one on here by Secret Smoker I think it was, worth looking for on the projects. Good luck with it & welcome to the forum

 

[Mikepollock]

Hi again!

Thank you for the replies! I am looking at second hand machines, but I am unsure on different brands....could someone give me a few half decent brands to look into?
I will make a project thread in the projects section once I've got a welder sorted and am getting close to starting!

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Tom Orrow L]

Hi again!

Thank you for the replies! I am looking at second hand machines, but I am unsure on different brands....could someone give me a few half decent brands to look into?
I will make a project thread in the projects section once I've got a welder sorted and am getting close to starting!

Thanks,

Mike

For your budget of around £220 you could look into GYS, Parweld, Butters (Maybe) or you could consider a Sealey but their "quality" is hit and miss IMO.

 

[daleyd]

There was a gys smartmig in the for sale section not long back with helmet regulator etc for 275! Not sure if it's still available there was a recent post on the thread but no answer?

 

[Tom Orrow L]

There was a gys smartmig in the for sale section not long back with helmet regulator etc for 275! Not sure if it's still available there was a recent post on the thread but no answer?

That sprung to my mind too, I suppose if its still available the chap that posted on it earlier will have first "dibs".

 

[daleyd]

That sprung to my mind too, I suppose if its still available the chap that posted on it earlier will have first "dibs".

Yes but you never know if it's too far away or some other reason it's not gone. Also gives an idea of what's about for the price of your prepared to wait. I seem to remember it had very little use and was in mint condition.

 

[Tom Orrow L]

Very true Dale, didn't think of distance etc.. There is some bargains to be had, like my Newarc MIG that I had for £40, one of the nicest small MIG's i've ever used

 

[cumbriasteve]

The thing about 2nd hand migs is any make at all will do you, as long as you can see it working and working well, even some of the early SIP's that have been sorted by the previous owners can do the job well, they should be cheap though due to their lack of popularity.

I know a guy who has a 140 Wolf, probably one of the most hated mig's on the market but he has it working really nice and produces some excellent welds with it.

The GYs, Cebora, Snap on, Murex and Butters are some of the better one's that crop up on the bay and I personally rate Clarkes as good value machines, they are usually the easier one's to find because so many have sold over the years.

If the seller makes any excuse why they can't show it working then walk away, the machine should produce a nice tidy run but don't worry about a whining noise if it's a Clarke, mine has always been a tad noisy on the wire feed but it always works.

For a mask the £20 ebay auto darkening one's will serve you well for hobby use.

Probably best to look for a machine in the 130 to 150amp range, once you start enjoying welding you will probably find other projects and a bit of extra oomph is good, as mentioned a low of 30amps is best for car repairs, any higher and it needs a bit of experience to manage.

Again: Agree with the others 100%, you need to sort some gas, the small disposables are just not worth considering except for a one off 5 min job.

 

[MattH]

Are you going to be welding indoors? if not you might want to look at Gasless sets.

 

[Mikepollock]

Are you going to be welding indoors? if not you might want to look at Gasless sets.

no the car is garaged, just enough room to be comfortable