New member embarking on a car retstoration, Advice needed!

[iceviolet]

Hello,
My name is Sam I am a new member to this forum and I am about to carry out my first full car restoration. The car in question is a 1973, Mercedes 280CE. So as you can imagine, lots of rust and lots of welding to be carried out. I have viewed the forum many times and got some good tips and advice in the past.
I have a MMA welder at the minute which I am quite good with and I have used MIG in the past at work but not in any anger.

I have a couple of questions I need advice on to start off with:

-I will be purchasing a MIG so I am after some advice on which one to get. I have been looking on the internet and I like the look of the IFL i-Tech MIG170. Does anybody know if this welder is any good at all? And if not what are the alternatives for carrying out car body work? That one would be at the very top of my budget.

-What type and size of repair steel should I buy and where can I get it from? Whilst looking on the net for steel I have come across plain mild steel, Zinc coated steel and Aluminzed steel. Whats the best to go for?

Thanks,

Sam

 

[cumbriasteve]

Hi Sam and welcome

Here is a wee bit about IFL:

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/new-ifl-itec-170-mig-mma-tig-welder.47591/

There may be others if you do a forum search.

Re the steel, perfectionists would want the same thickness as the original steel, heavier steel sounds better but can be difficult to shape.

Many use the zinc coated but you really need to clean the weld area back to bare steel to keep a clean weld and reduce the nasty fumes.

I am not a car rebuild person so am limited in advice on the steel, there may be specific reasons for the final selection.

Don't forget we like to follow projects so take photo's as you go and keep us involved.

 

[eSCHEn]

Hi Sam, cannae help you with your query but welcome

 

[optima21]

Hi, depends where you are in West Yorkshire, I've bought 2m x 1m sheets of zintec from Abram Pulmans near halifax www.pulmans.co.uk/ and I also understand that lancaster and winter in bradford http://www.lancasterandwinterltd.co.uk/ may supply single sheets. I use zintec as thezinc coating prevents it from rusting like steel would left to open air if you dont use it straight away, but you need to clean the zinc coating off before welding. you may also be able to get metal from a friendly fabricator if you can find one

 

[cumbriasteve]

There's a reason they're cheap, it's because they're cheap...

I know the Clarkes are 'respected' but to my mind it's 'respected' compared to wolf/modern sip/etc. - there is no comparison to the IFL (which isn't exactly high end in itself) that the OP seemed to be considering from what I've seen. Clarkes such as mentioned are very much in the 'occasional hobby' bracket...

Getting a machine used always means being prepared to sort out little problems, and imo the cheaper the machine the more of those problems are likely (clogged liners due to rusty wire only being used once a year etc.)

I disagree totally.

I use a Clarke 135 a lot and can match anyone with any machine on the work I do, it is reliable, nice to run and easy for spares..not that it has needed any.

I also owned a Portamig 235 so know very well what a so called 'good' machine feels like.

It is too easy to guide new buyers into a level of the market they do not require for the occasional bit of welding once a week.

I do agree with the sentiment to buy the best you can afford, however you should also consider will that machine ever be used enough to warrant what it cost.

 

[iceviolet]

Thanks for the replies. I am still undecided on which welder to go for, I will do a bit more looking around first I think. I only need a low amp set really as I have a stick for the thicker stuff, IFL do a 150 amp set that goes down to 20 Amps, this may be more suited for me for the thinner metals?? Is there any benefit in the actual welding end result between an Inverter welder and a transformer welder??
Thanks

 

[Badger1bear]

dont scrimp on the cake for a teaspoon of sugar.

Badge snobbery ? nah, buy once buy right

 

[Kent]

Good brand second hand transformer sets can be had for less than a new inverter and might actually outlast the inverter. I don't but increased duty as that depends on the set in question. I haven't used either of the ones in question so cannot comment on that.

I would rather own a nice used Kempi, ESAB, Lincoln, Lorch etc,,etc as a transformer than any new transformer at the same price or more regardless of warranty

 

[Tinbasherdan]

I'll second the little clarkes for bodywork, and that's coming from someone who has always had the very best of everything at work. For the money they are spot on, I rebuilt most of my discovery shell using one

 

[iceviolet]

Hello again,
Apologies for the delayed update on this thread! Not much has been going on with the restoration apart from stripping the car and finding that it is very rotten indeed!! LOTS of welding required!

So I have bought my welding equipment, In the end I splashed out for the Jasic ProMig 160 set up from Weldequip. The fact it goes down to 10Amps and also the 5 year warranty swayed me in the end and I definitely wanted an inverter for portability.
Has anyone got one of these units? Any advice?

I have not used it yet, However first impressions it does look and feel a good quality, well made machine. I will update in due course and hopefully I will be practicing my first welds on the car later this week if I am allowed to my garage!