I'm trying to decide on a CHEAP welding machine, to weld in some sheet metal and floor pans on the old mustang, and I could use some advice on what kind of welder to buy.
It's important to note that we are NOT talking about exterior body work, but interior stuff. I need to weld a new driver's sided floorpan in, and I need to weld in some generic sheet metal to patch some holes in the passenger's side floor pan, trunk and wheel wells. I also want to reinforce one of the frame rails where it has been eaten away. So it's all going to be "invisible" in that it's not external, so the welds don't have to be perfectly smooth or beautiful.
Because of that, I don't want to spend tons of money on some fancy-schmancy MIG gas-welder, but am trying to decide between a relatively cheap flux-core welder - for a bout $350 - and a really cheap arc (electrode) welder - for about $150. (both run off regular 110V household current, which is very helpful)
Now I do have a little bit of welding experience, in that I was trained to do different types of welding and soldering, but it was MANY years ago (when I was a teenager), and I have never touched any welding equipment since - so I only have a very vague recollection.
In general, I see the wire-fed flux core welder as probably being a little easier to use, but also more expensive. One concern I have about the electrode arc welder is that I remember that if you were not careful, an arc welder coudl easily melt a hole in the metal you were trying to work on, screwing up the job. Is that a possible risk when welding something really think like a floor pan or sheet metal on a car? Or is that not too much of a concern for a low-powered arc welder running off 110V (the one I'm looking at is a 130Amp welder using 1/16 or 5/64 electrodes.
If all the experts are off to Gunstock, I'll btt this after the weekend - but if someone has any expertise I'd appreciate the advice, because I'm itching to get to work.