90 amp flux wire welder from HF for floors and first welder for my car?

[Custom300Madman]

http://www.harborfreight.com/welders-buying-guide.html

would any of these work for the floors on my 57 four door car? maybe exhaust hangers, headers or exhaust pipe and a first welder? I don't have 220 in the garage and I'm  a noob newbie with the welding. Since my broken leg I'm just shopping around for tools to get her on the road..

[RICH MUISE]

A 220 would serve the purpose better...I'd consider setting up your garage with 220 especially if the main box isn't too far from the garage. I set mine up with 220..works much better for the welding, the air conditioner/heater, and the air compressor. (all houses have 220 running to the main box).
As far as a flux welder, I'd definetly spend the extra bucks for a model that can be set up both ways...probably more important than the 110 vs. 220 if your just going to be welding thin stuff. I was a newbie..and still not very good...when I bought mine and was having a hell of a time trying to weld anything with it set up on the flux core. I finally bit the bullet and bought a gas tank and switched the welder over to gas. The difference was amazing. The HF units will get the job done..of course not as well as a Miller or Lincoln...but definetly forget the HF wire. Lincoln wire can be had at home depot or Lowe's.

[Custom300Madman]

We rent, so that wouldn't work. But If I owned the house I would so do it!

[geraldchainsaw]

i'll agree with Mitch M  in a few things he said,  first 220 in the garage will come in handy with compressor,  maybe a  stick welder,   i myself have had a 110 lincoln wire welder with gas for 20 years,  great on thin metal,   if your going 1/8 or more, then its a stick,     i guess its one of those things where you'll have to make up your mind,  also maybe your just new to working on cars,  and young,  +,  it only takes money.    could have also said,  FW is sloppy,  gas is clean,  dosen't
take that much to convert to gas,    jerry

[Ford Blue blood]

For what you want to do with the most flexibility go with a wire feed gas welder.  A 115V unit from any of the suppliers (Lincoln, Daytona Mig, etc) will do everything you want and then some as you learn how to weld.  Flux is dirty and hard to clean for paint, spatter is horrendous and penetration (however slight) is poor.  Just MHO.

[rmk57]

If you can afford it go for the Argon gas bottle. The only drawback is you can't weld outdoors, even a slight breeze will blow away the shielding gas. I would think 110 amp wire feed could weld 1/8" mild steel in one pass.

[Ford Blue blood]

I have had great success with my Dayton Mig.  It will do 1/8" no problem with plenty of penetration!  Never had a weld break on any of the many Mustang II front ends that were installed with that bad boy.  Just would like one more heat setting on the low end for sheet metal.

[Frankenstein57]

I have a miller flux core machine I borrowed from my sister, never been very happy with the results.The 220 wire machine with the gas is miles ahead in overall weld quality. Maybe you can tack them in place with the fluxcore, then take it somewhere.  Mark

[62galxe]

You want a welder with gas. when u get gas 75/25 mix is better than straight C02 .

[glen b henderson]

IMO a oxy/accy torch would be better than wasting your money on one of the elcheapo HF flux core machines. You will never be happy with it. A 110 V shielded gas mig will do a good job on sheet metal but for any thing much thicker, you will need 220 V. I love my Miller 180 with 25/75 mixed gas. It is good all around machine for auto work.

[gasman826]

You would think that welding supply stores would have an open house from time to time to show off their wares.  Maybe some do, I have just never seen one.  I am fortunate enough to have a Vo-tech school in the county.  Most allow adults to enroll.  If not, maybe the local community college.  Since you are laid up anyway, make use of the time and take a welding class.  You can spend hours practicing on a variety of different makes and sizes of equipment and get helpful tips.  It is much cheaper than buying the wrong machine and everybody needs practice.

[Limey57]

My first ever MIG welder was an el-cheapo flux-cored wire one.  It was better than trying to use a stick welder on thin sheet metal, but as others have said, penetration was either very poor or it burned straight through!  The metal had to be 101% clean and clamping a piece of copper bar underneath helped prevent burn-through.  The wire was also a lot more expensive than conventional MIG wire.  I persevered with it for a few years but eventually changed it for a gas version and never looked back.  Just got to find something else to blame for my poor welding now. 

[TexasFordGuy]

I have a Northern Tools 110 MIG setup that I bought on Craigslist for very little cash from a guy that used it once for floor pans in a Mustang.

110 is fine for anything sheet metal like your doors and most body work things.  I just would not weld a frame with it as it would take too may passes. 

Also, I wouldn't consider getting a Flux Core welder,as it is too messy and too hard to use. Buy it used and when your ready to upgrade you should get your money back. 

FYI a lot of professionals have both the 110 and 220 for different types of work.

OK, that is my 2 cents......

[ragtop]

does the house have a 220 dryer close to the garage make a HD-extension cord for 220