questions for yall. i am on a tight budget on redoing my 67 coupe. I am in need of welding my floors, cowl vents, etc. I have read thru the different threads on welders and so on trying to figure out which one would suit my needs best (needs include money for a welder or parts). Harbor Freight has their Chicago Electric 90amp flux core welder on sale for $87 next month at their sidewalk sale. At that price, is this welder still worthless junk and would I regret waisting valuable time and energy redoing what a better welder would have done right, first.
i have a basic knowledge of welding, basically they are strong, but might not be the best looking welds.

 

I believe I have the welder you are talking about. If it had more than 2 power settings it might be an ok welder. The 2 power settings get very annoying because you cant really dial it in. So you will be spending alot of time cleaning welds.

 

NO!
DO NOT BUY 87 DOLLAR WELDER!
it is complete and total junk
as are all welders made by harbor freight, they do sell name brand ones though
i bought one, to have at my house to do smaller things, it will weld but mainly 22g only,
i even went to school for welding and still could not get it to function.

spend some money and get something thats gonna work
i assume you want 110v
go for a lincoln weld pak HD fro around 250
it'll do what you need, but its still not the best

 

You get what you pay for. Don't buy a cheap hooker. You will not have fun!

Seriously, If you are going to be using it for much more than tack welding, I would look into one of the cheap Lincoln wire welders. They can be had for under $300 if you want to use flux wire.

 

no such thing as a cheap welder. they're listed as PITA, wrecktheheads and feckupyourcars. you spend a lot of time preparing the metal, bending, cutting and then the cheap-O-matic ruins all that

 

We have the harbor freight one. Don't know if it is the same one, but it did the job. Welds weren't pretty looking, but did the job we needed.

 

you get what you pay for

 

This is a good little 110v MIG welder for general sheetmetal use. It'll weld up to 1/8" plate. Also need a bottle of Argon/CO2 blend.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Lincoln-Elec...3%3A1|294%3A50

 

watch craigslist for used welders. Often, some one will get a wild hair, go out and spend upwards of $800-$1K on a welder, and uses it once. I pic'd up a complete 2yr old millermatic for $400, looked brand new, and works awesome. A good used welder is $300-400 but in these tight times, I bet you can get a helluva deal. Look for Miller, Lincoln, or Hobart, 125 to 145 series, 110 volt. If you have a 220 outlet, try looking for a 175 or 180 series. BTW, all the extra gear, helmet, jacket, and gloves will cost you another $150.

 

Like everyone before me said, get a decent machine. I like blue so I would get the Millermatic 140. Also I would NEVER do bodypanels or floorpans with flux cored wire. You will end up with a mess unless you have some welding experience under your belt. Even then, you will still end up with less than desirable results.
I would use the GMAW process with either C25 gas (75% Argon 25% CO2) or CO2. The C25 will give you a better bead appearance and will burn a bt cooler.
Call your local welding distributor regarding a used machine. They don't advertise them but are always taking old equipment on trade for newestuff
Get an autodarkening helmet from Harbor Freight. ($45.00) and a pair of leather gloves ($5.00) use a long sleeved denim shirt to keep sparks and UV light off your skin and you are set