Welders for Body Work on the Cruisers

[JDCruiser]

Any of you guys have any advice on small autobody welders that are good. I am looking at getting a small 110V Household MIG / Fluxcore welder and I am wondering what has worked well for you guys in the past. Only need to do body work and maybe some lighter body mount / rail stuff so nothing over 1/8". I am looking at the Lincoln Electric 3200HD welder, comes with gas conversion kit (regulator, flow control, and solenoid) so it can do flux core and strickly MIG, runs about $650 canuck dollars. Is true MIG with shielding gas welding required or will Flux core do the trick for all my body welding needs?

 

[Texx]

I'd go with gas, it makes a much cleaner weld, with better penetration. 110V is fine, i'd look for about 140 amps. Hobart Handler works well, if it's available to you, price would be about the same, or at least it's around 600 US.

 

[REZARF]

Any of you guys have any advice on small autobody welders that are good. I am looking at getting a small 110V Household MIG / Fluxcore welder and I am wondering what has worked well for you guys in the past. Only need to do body work and maybe some lighter body mount / rail stuff so nothing over 1/8". I am looking at the Lincoln Electric 3200HD welder, comes with gas conversion kit (regulator, flow control, and solenoid) so it can do flux core and strickly MIG, runs about $650 canuck dollars. Is true MIG with shielding gas welding required or will Flux core do the trick for all my body welding needs?

Flux core will get it done, hoever, you will get the slag all over your work surface, and it requires a bit more practice to get right. The MIG welders, from my limited experience, leave a much cleaner weld, meaning you can move through your body work in less time.

Rezarf <><

 

[Degnol]

Forney has just come out with a line of inexpensive welders, stick or mig, both 110 and 220.
I just saw them demo'd at a local farm store.
I have a Clarke(made in Italy) 110 130amp and the gas kit for it. I like it for it's portability. I also have a Millermatic 250 for bugger stuff.

GL

Ed

 

[Coolerman]

I currently have a 105 amp Craftsman MIG with gas. Perfect for sheet metal and maybe 1/8" but nothing bigger. I will need to upgrade soon as I get into bigger things. Lots of good small and medium size welders out there. I think a 140-180A is the perfect size for a Cruiser owner.

 

[Stumpalama]

I now have a Lincoln SP-135 MIG that replaced my Century Fluxcore welder. The first time I ran a bead with the gas on the Lincoln I almost creamed my shorts (well not that close)!
I did all my body work a couple years ago with the Fluxcore and now REALLY wish I had the gas at the time. MIG is so much cleaner and smoother, especially for thinner work.
I've also used my MIG to mount my winch plate and build my sliders. It was probably right at the limit of the MIG with 3/16 and 1/8" steel. I used .030 wire for the heavy work and .025 for the lighter stuff. I will also get some flux core for the heavier jobs now.
Bottom line: Like it was stated in the other posts, 110-140amps are good enough to handle most Land Cruiser jobs.
Good luck.

 

[ranger]

Get a MIG welder for body work, 75/25 Co2 Argon blend, .023 wire.
Its real hard to do sheet metal work with a flux core welder, it can be done but it takes practice. The splatter and slag make it a PITA to contend with.
Welding thin sheet metal like on modern vehicles is nearly impossible with a fluxcore. Vintage steel, like on cruisers, you can weld with fluxcore, but its tricky without burning through and warping the panel.

 

[vfrer]

Hi all... first post here but been watching a while. I just bought a 110V MIG/Flux Core a couple of weeks ago to repair/replace a bunch of problems with my body. I strictly use it as a flux core welder right now and it is perfect for the application. I bought a new Lincoln Electric SP-100T for $450 with MIG and Flux core kits, 10 lbs. of wire, and a better helmet off E-bay (check out this store: weldingsuppliesfromioc)... free shipping and delivered in less than a week. You do have to clean the slag before painting but it only takes a couple of seconds with a wire brush. I like the flux core because I only have to run the welder on the 2nd of four heat settings and my duty cycle is much better than compared to welding the same material with solid wire (MIG). The low heat also helps to reduce the potential for blowing through. This is probably the smallest welder you can do the job with but the price is right and I was welding within 10 minutes of opening the box. I had about 15 hours of experience and none with sheet metal before that. Laying good strong beads without a problem, especially with fresh metal. When I am ready and actually need it, I will buy a Miller 175.
Eric

 

[Mace]

Hi all... first post here but been watching a while. I just bought a 110V MIG/Flux Core a couple of weeks ago to repair/replace a bunch of problems with my body. I strictly use it as a flux core welder right now and it is perfect for the application. I bought a new Lincoln Electric SP-100T for $450 with MIG and Flux core kits, 10 lbs. of wire, and a better helmet off E-bay (check out this store: weldingsuppliesfromioc)... free shipping and delivered in less than a week. You do have to clean the slag before painting but it only takes a couple of seconds with a wire brush. I like the flux core because I only have to run the welder on the 2nd of four heat settings and my duty cycle is much better than compared to welding the same material with solid wire (MIG). The low heat also helps to reduce the potential for blowing through. This is probably the smallest welder you can do the job with but the price is right and I was welding within 10 minutes of opening the box. I had about 15 hours of experience and none with sheet metal before that. Laying good strong beads without a problem, especially with fresh metal. When I am ready and actually need it, I will buy a Miller 175.
Eric

A bit of misinformation here....
Duty cycle does not really alter depending on mig or flux core. IF you are welding the really thin stuff, you shoudl not have to worry about duty cycle much at all. You are not at the upper end of the machines capabilities..
The settings you use only vary slightly (and I mean very slightly) between mig and flux. It is not like a 1/8" steel requires setting 4 with mig and only setting 2 with fluxcore. You do get better penetration with flux core. Due to the gas not "cooling" the weld as much (and that varies dependong on the gas as well) But it is not a huge difference.

 

[vfrer]

I guess it really depends on the welder... for a 100-135 amp welder it does make a difference. According to the chart I have for the SP-100 (and I looked at the 135), the machine will not even weld 1/8" steel with solid core, only with flux core. And for 16ga steel it does require a higher voltage to do MIG (setting 3 or 4) vs Flux core (setting 2) hence a reduced duty cycle.
Chart on page 31...
http://content.lincolnelectric.com//pdfs/products/navigator/im/IM564C.pdf

 

[JDCruiser]

Hey guys, thanks for all the comments and discussion. You have really helped me out and let me know that I am basically on the right track. I think I will go with the Lincoln, 110V 35 to 135Amps that has the gas kit, bit extra money for the MIG gas kit and then about 200 bucks for the bottle of shielding gas, but from the sounds of it, you really do need the MIG to do some tidy welding with high guage sheet.

Anyway, thanks again. To the guys that have the Millermatics, how do you like them... I really wanted to get one but they are much more than the Lincoln's...

Take care, thanks again for the help...

 

[cruiser88]

Hey guys, thanks for all the comments and discussion. You have really helped me out and let me know that I am basically on the right track. I think I will go with the Lincoln, 110V 35 to 135Amps that has the gas kit, bit extra money for the MIG gas kit and then about 200 bucks for the bottle of shielding gas, but from the sounds of it, you really do need the MIG to do some tidy welding with high guage sheet.

Anyway, thanks again. To the guys that have the Millermatics, how do you like them... I really wanted to get one but they are much more than the Lincoln's...

Take care, thanks again for the help...

go lower like 20 to 135

 

[Stumpalama]

Yeah, everything is a bit more expensive here in CA. The 3200HD sounds like it will do prettymuch anything your looking at doing.
You can "rent" tanks from welding companies like Air Liquide, that's what I did here in Victoria. That way you don't have to buy a tank then get it filled, you just take the empty back and grab a full one. You don't go thru a ton of gas anyway, unless your just churning out the wire.
I would recommend a full helmet, not the chessy shield they give you. You'll want both hands free. I have an autodarkening helmet, you will also find a few schools of thought with respect to autodark helmets vs. conventional helmets. I have not had an issue with mine and it works great. However, I got it because I kept striking arcs with my fluxcore wire while setting up for a weld and kept flashing myself (ha ha). Seriously, I'm a novice welder and the auto dark, for me, leaves me one less thing to woriy about while I am fabbing.

 

[hobiesbestfriend]

I'd go with gas, it makes a much cleaner weld, with better penetration.

Flux actually gives better penetration.

 

[Velocity2]

I have used ESAB migmaster 250 and love it. I think it runs a smoother arc on 220 single phase than a millermatic 250 or 251 single phase. For a top notch weld quality though three-phase has it IMO.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

I had that exact welder (the Home Depot 3200HD - which is basically a 135 Lincoln, not the 135T) and I loved it, particularly for body work. Mig with gas is definetely best. It does not burn in very well on thicker stuff though even with fluxcore. You will be tempted to use it on bigger stuff as I was and I would say it maybe can but is a stretch. I welded some 1/4" brackets to my frame once and they were not welded on well. Looking back at the pictures I am almost embarrassed. But that said it was a great body work welder, almost wish I still had it.. Best, Andre

 

[JDCruiser]

cruiserhead, thanks for the advice on the Home depot welder... that is exactly what I was hoping for, some good advice on that specific welder. I am going to get that one.... it is $675 here in canada and then I plan to buy a cylinder of argon / C02 shielding gas which should handle the thin stuff nicely. Thanks for the advice on the 1/4" I was suspicous when I read the specs that it could handle that size, but I don't plan to do that, just up to 1/8"....

 

[brownbear]

JdCruiser,
your in Canada.. then the Canadian tire Mig pak 15 or 10 is decent. I have a mig pak 15. It is a lincoln 230 volt welder. I have it hooked up with an extension cord(homemade 12 gauge) that hooks up to a dryer plug in.

It welds nice with C25 mix gas. I did lots of body welding with it. I recommend that welder for body metal and light fabrication. It can weld up to 5/16. I did weld 3/8 with it, but with a beveled piece of metal and multiple passes.

The Canadian tire ones rotate on sale. Keep an eye out for them. They even had the gas valve. extra though.

 

[brownbear]

Mig pak 15 is 789.00 but onsale they are around 580.00

 

[gladly]

They even had the gas valve. extra though.

just out of curiosity, is it just the valve that you need, I know that some of the flux core welders have a different lead that doesn't have the sheilding gas provision, does the CT upgrade for gas have this as well?