I've used a Hobart 140 for about everything possible on my mustang. Honestly, going higher amperage than that just increases the thickness of metal you can weld....which when you get that thick you can go to the buzz box to weld that stuff up. A 110v 140 (Hobart/Miller/Lincoln) should suit you fine in my opinion.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned, unless I missed it, is you definitely need to get Argon mix and a tank for the Mig. Most welding supply places can hook you up with a tank and gas. Without the gas its basically flux-core welding, and for the most part the welds will look like crap from my experience.

 

...and the Hobart is basically the cheaper version from Miller. The miller has more metal wear parts, whereas the Hobart has plastic (thus the price difference between the two).

 

My wife purchased me the lincoln 110V handy mig.

For body work I have used 75/25 gas for shielding and have had great results. I have welded on every panel on the car and made a lot of repairs from the floor pan to an entire new rear end.

I will soon be adding the subframe connections that daze did on his site and using the same welder. It will take a couple passes with the flux core to weld it properly but I like the ability to have one welder that can do pretty much anything automotive.

 

For those used to stick welding Mig welding can be difficult to get used to because of the direction of travel while using a shielding gas. i fallower the tread and wanted to pipe up on a few things,
Hobart/Miller - yes they are made on the same assembly line, the difference is the drive motor. Hobart uses a cheaper weaker motor than the miller. besides the price everything is the same.
Lincoln - the power mig versions! have "POTTED" volt and wire-feed speed dials. If you break them off, just throw the machine away, you will need to replace the PC board which cost more than the welder sells for new.
The other Lincolns are by design disposable (welpac, Handy Mig ect).
The best bang for the buck is Miller.
My info comes from 14 years (until last year) as a distributor of most all welding/plasma equipment manufactures

 

All I am going to say is that no matter what welder I have ever bought, I have always regretted not buying a bigger one, although my little Miller 180 does great right up to, and part way through 3/8".(and it has been used A LOT)


A brand name 120V welder will do ok for what you want. A brand name 240V welder will cost more up front, it is a BETTER BUY.

I think once you start welding with the MIG, you won't want to use the stick welder, and you will wish you had a bigger MIG.

One thing that doesn't get mentioned much about welders is their DUTY CYCLE, which seldom applies unless you are welding with the machine turned up high, but it does suck when you have to wait for the machine to cool down before you can start welding again. A smaller machine usually has a shorter duty cycle, and a person might find the limits even just welding sheet metal.

 

So what amp would be the lowest that you'd need for welding in a new rear frame kit?

Mid 40s, never had the need to weld before,...ever,...but my son is 13 and we think it'll be a fun father/son project, so as far as growing into or needing a bigger machine, I really don't think that'll happen.

He has a hard understanding that, "in the olden days", all you had to do was look in the newspaper and you had your pick from any, now vintage, Mustang, Camaro, Cuda, Charger, etc that you wanted. I'm dating myself, this was back in the day, early 80's. If i could just have one of my old Mustangs back,...67, 71,or 72. You young wippersnappers have no idea what fun was!

I'm carrying on aren't I?!

 

Roughly, one amp per 0.001" metal thickess to be welded, so I'd think 140-ish, assuming 1/8" or 11 gauge metal and the desire to have just a little more machine than "necessary".


Norm

 

110 Mig is fine for sheetmetal and up to 3/16" welding. Just be sure to get a gas unit, and not a fluxcore only. Also would recommend a Lincoln, Miller, Hobart 140-150 unit. I started with a Clarke 95 fluxcore mig, and ended up selling it to get a Hobart 140 gas unit. Day and night difference to me. Hobart unit has 4 power settings compared to a "min & max" on less expensive u its. Usually the minimum setting is too light, and maximum blows thropugh sheet metal. Just my opinion.