Welding car bodywork

Hiya, I am looking to buy a MIG Welder, basically the work that needs to be done on the car (1988 escort) are the rear arch liners (i think thats the name for them)as they are metal where the dirt and water has built up. And the other part that needs welding is where the arches join onto the bit just above the sills where the arch liners have rusted through and dirt/water has started taking out the rear quarters of the car. Anyway its basically to weld on some sheet metal onto the car so that I can filler over the top. This is the nearest picture of the damage i could find, sorry dont have a camera.

I'm pretty clueless when it comes to welding so i need something thats fairly easy to use. I'm not going to be taking on anything bigger than welding small pieces onto cars, or joining exhausts.

Any help much appreciated!!!

Be sure to cut all the rotten metal out before welding new stuff in. Should last OK then.

For the welder you'd be OK with a small one for bodywork. Any MIG would do the job - you'd be looking for a minimum current of 30 amps, preferably less to make the job easy. Be sure to get one that takes a gas bottle too - makes thin metal welding easier. Clarke welders have a good reputation. Check out the buyers guide for a few more thoughts.

Yeah i checked that out with to begin with. Everyone bangs on about the clarke 150 or 151. Is that overkill or worth spending the extra money on?

The only advantage of the bigger welders is they can weld thicker stuff. Otherwise there's not a lot of quality improvement until you get to the £400 plus welders. Only thing to watch is the smaller welders sometimes can't take gas bottles, and very occasionally you find one with a permamently live torch which would be nasty.

hmmmm, sounds dangerous! are SIP a crap make? i can get a migmate 100 reasonably cheap or am i wasting my time?

To be honest, if you see how many posts there are of people with SIP problems.. I would not touch them with a barge pole

On the plus, if you get a Clarke, you get quality, and lots of spares available fairly cheap.
If you can, get a proper clarke welder with the highest amps you can afford, because you WILL need it for other work when the time comes. I use a small 135Te Clarke that has done so many little jobs now, it could easily pay itself back in a days work... and still work tomoro..



(P.S I dont work for Clarke Sales lol!)

Ok kool, so clarke it is I'm gonna try and get a 151TE hopefully, anyone know where I can get one cheaper than machine mart? Thanks for your answers malcolm and migtig

Send a pm to weldequip. Bought a Clarke 160 from him and the service was great. Speaking to someone who knows what they're talking about is a real boon nowadays.