Mig welding body panels

[belsh]

Im a complete newbie to welding but have a 1970 Chevy truck with lots of rust so its time to learn!!

Looking to spend up to around £500 on a machine, from what I've read on here it probably needs to go down to 20 amps and have a metal wire spool and also needs to be able to use gas. Any advice on what to buy is very welcome

Any recommends on decent helmets would also be appreciated


Thanks

Chris

 

[Burdekin]

Parweld XTE 171C or the Rtech 180 would be decent options for your budget.

 

[Hotstuff]

R-Tech 180 was my first welder and has been great for both learning the art and car bodywork repairs.

If you decide on the R-Tech, give them a call as you can often get a good deal.

With regards the Helmet, I bought an R-Tech true colour which has served me well. It’s a bit flimsy but does the job and is well suited to a beginner.

Don’t forget to get a low profile respirator while your at it.

 

[Eric the chicken]

I bought my second helmet from Halfords ( first one ceased to work) So far it's been fine.

 

[Burdekin]

There's a lot to look at when buying a helmet for car work, one thing is optics. The helmets with the best optics are fantastic to use but they're also the expensive ones and my expensive one is also heavy so it's not great when under a car as it's hard on the neck and moves around more due to the weight. Also when welding upside under a car you get lots of splatter so you don't want to ruin a good expensive helmet. Starting out try and find a cheapo auto helmet that's light and takes a generic size filter that can be changed out cheaply when you ruin them.

 

[addjunkie]

Dont forget to factor in the cost of gas…..been in Newcastle your looking at BOC hobby rentaldeal. Or big deposit but rent free… Hobby weld from of westerhope or SGS gases from various motor factors around two I know off are AVTaylors and Motor Parts direct.

 

[belsh]

Dont forget to factor in the cost of gas…..been in Newcastle your looking at BOC hobby rentaldeal. Or big deposit but rent free… Hobby weld from of westerhope or SGS gases from various motor factors around two I know off are AVTaylors and Motor Parts direct.

Aye cheers for that, I've got an account with Dixons (or whoever it is they've changed to) for my BBQ gas so hopefully they will sort me out

 

[belsh]

R-Tech 180 was my first welder and has been great for both learning the art and car bodywork repairs.

If you decide on the R-Tech, give them a call as you can often get a good deal.

With regards the Helmet, I bought an R-Tech true colour which has served me well. It’s a bit flimsy but does the job and is well suited to a beginner.

Don’t forget to get a low profile respirator while your at it.

Do you wear a respirator for welding? Ive genuinely never heard of that

 

[Hotstuff]

Do you wear a respirator for welding? Ive genuinely never heard of that

Always mate. It might not be quite so important outdoors.

You never know what fumes are given off during welding; some of them can be harmful.

 

[addjunkie]

Do you wear a respirator for welding? Ive genuinely never heard of that

If your really worried buy an air fed mask

 

[bainzy]

Always mate. It might not be quite so important outdoors.

You never know what fumes are given off during welding; some of them can be harmful.

Same, when welding in an enclosed garage I always put on a low profile 3M reusable half mask that filters ABEK1P3 (probably overkill as inorganic vapours are also filtered but the price wasnt much different when I got the last one). I have also used the JSP Force 8 half mask, liked the interchangeable filters, but that struggled to fit inside the welding helmet.

It's a bit inconvenient, but welding fume plus all the dust and stink kicked up during grinding, cutting, spray priming etc in the average resto session makes it well worthwhile. COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) might be too late to reverse by the time you realise your hobby is causing it, so best not to take chances with your health.

 

[Trevorleach]

I used a Crosarc 171 for a few months welding a boat up, did a pretty decent job, after that I chucked it in against a Crosarc 291c as I needed more power.
Welded cars with both of them, did a decent job.

The cheap true colour welding masks will do for diy.

 

[tom2207]

I got a Rohr for 177 quid that would get you by the very best ,,, I run 0.8mm wire and its grand lowest amps is 50 according to the spec sheet but I can weld 0.8mm steel with ease ,, Id like burn back control and the readouts to be better , but its rumored theres a mk2 coming out in the new year .. i may use it over xmas as Ive sills to do on a shogun and see if its good there , I did the seats and cage on a rally car with it a week or two ago and it was grand.

 

[Trevorleach]

I got a Rohr for 177 quid that would get you by the very best ,,, I run 0.8mm wire and its grand lowest amps is 50 according to the spec sheet but I can weld 0.8mm steel with ease ,, Id like burn back control and the readouts to be better , but its rumored theres a mk2 coming out in the new year .. i may use it over xmas as Ive sills to do on a shogun and see if its good there , I did the seats and cage on a rally car with it a week or two ago and it was grand.

Have you a model number?

 

[Trevorleach]

I used a Crosarc 171 for a few months welding a boat up, did a pretty decent job, after that I chucked it in against a Crosarc 291c as I needed more power.
Welded cars with both of them, did a decent job.

The cheap true colour welding masks will do for diy.

Quoting my own post!
I forgot to add the 171c had wire feed rollers with .6 and .8 grooves, the 291 has .8 and 1.0mm grooves, I wish I could get .6 grooves but have not been able to source them.

 

[Smallfry]

Regarding optics, don't know if you wear glasses, but if you do wear them for close work, reading etc, you will find that while welding you are working even closer, so even they can be out of focus.
I have had to get another even closer range pair, just for welding.

 

[tom2207]

Have you a model number?

Rohr 200mi ... advertised as ex demo , but it certainly had never been used , nice guys down in Southampton and the price included shipping to Northern Ireland , it paid for its self on the first day , so cant be bad , Ive not tried the stick yet , but I might give it a go over the hols too.