Budget Welders

[Maz91 202]

Heya

 

i am wondering if anyone who owns a low cost welder can recommend a harbor freight or other affordable model that is decent enough for the occasional project. I have a 15 year old Subaru Forester with rusted out rocker panels and I can’t pass inspection. Unfortunately buying another car is not an option right now but if I am able to fix these rockers I should be in the clear for a few years. 
 

Yes, we have vehicle inspections in a state with the motto “live free or die”. Unfortunately the motto is more like “….die” these days.

 

alternatively, if anyone reading this happens to be a welder located in the northeast and needs home water filtration installed I’d be glad to trade services 👍🏼
 

any info/advice would be appreciated. Thanks !!

[Ed Kennell 38,216]

You may be able to find repair panels that can be pop riveted under the door seal.    Try Keystone bogy panels.

[oliver2-44 9,759]

You might consider using some of the 3M body panel adhesives.  They should work well with preformed repair panels, or self made panels.  New cars are literally glued together these days.

[ri702bill 8,329]

Just a word of caution on this.... The Subaru is made of Unibody construction, not body-on-frame. IF the inner rockers and the "cosmetic" outers are rotted away, the structural integrity is gone, therefore the car IS  "unsafe". Better off in that case to look for different transportation. Life in New England.....

[Achto 27,601]

8 hours ago, Maz91 said:

i am wondering if anyone who owns a low cost welder can recommend a harbor freight

 

This is a very good welder for the money. The flux core wire is a bit messy (as all flux core is) but the welder it's self is very good.

 

https://www.harborfreight.com/easy-flux-125-amp-welder-57861.html

[Ed Kennell 38,216]

26 minutes ago, Achto said:

 

This is a very good welder for the money. The flux core wire is a bit messy (as all flux core is) but the welder it's self is very good.

 

https://www.harborfreight.com/easy-flux-125-amp-welder-57861.html

I bought one of the HF 125 A flux core welders many years ago.   I think it was on sale at $79 then.         Still working well after burning about 20 lb of wire.

Works best inside out of the air, and keep the wire short to keep the cover gas over the burn.    

[Pullstart 62,906]

Another , I bought my Snap On 240V MIG welder from the local auction for something like $240.  I have put a $.30 o-ring in it, along with a new $89 or so stinger, after many years having it.  It might be worth checking a couple local listings for a steal of a deal.

 

 

[OoPEZoO 525]

I had one of the cheapest 120v HF mig welders they ever made for over 20yrs, it didn’t have an amperage or speed adjust.  All it had was a hi/low switch.  Almost every weld I made with it was ugly as sin.  That being said, I don’t ever recall one of those welds breaking. I eventually passed it on to a younger guy at work who was interested in learning to weld.  I upgraded to a Hobart 220v machine and usually run on a bottle now instead of flux core. Everything is much prettier, and I can weld thicker material, but I will never rag on that little HF rig. I put a LOT of wire through it and never had any major issues. Its only weakness was welding thin material.  It would constantly blow holes through any sheet metal and took lots of patience, patching, grinding, and did I mention patience.  
 

I’m not sure I would want to learn to weld on car sheet metal panels, but if you want to learn, we all gotta start somewhere. I never regretted learning to weld.  In fact, I wish I would have done more of it when I was younger and had more time to tinker. 

[Handy Don 12,235]

3 hours ago, ri702bill said:

Just a word of caution on this.... The Subaru is made of Unibody construction, not body-on-frame. IF the inner rockers and the "cosmetic" outers are rotted away, the structural integrity is gone, therefore the car IS  "unsafe". Better off in that case to look for different transportation. Life in New England.....

 

During college I drove a ’66 VW Bug that was rusting. I “cleverly” patched it up with sheet metal and plywood (yeah?) and screws, bolts, rivets, etc. Thought I was cool beans. At the next NYS Inspection, it was red tagged and done.

It did live on, as the local tech trade school bought it and used the engine and all the running gear in a successful Formula Vee race car!

[Maz91 202]

10 hours ago, oliver2-44 said:

You might consider using some of the 3M body panel adhesives.  They should work well with preformed repair panels, or self made panels.  New cars are literally glued together these days.

Thank you for this tip - I did not know adhesives like that existed. I’m gonna check that out. 

 

3 hours ago, Achto said:

 

This is a very good welder for the money. The flux core wire is a bit messy (as all flux core is) but the welder it's self is very good.

 

https://www.harborfreight.com/easy-flux-125-amp-welder-57861.html

Thank you for the recommendation. This is exactly the type of unit I am looking for! 
 

4 hours ago, ri702bill said:

Just a word of caution on this.... The Subaru is made of Unibody construction, not body-on-frame. IF the inner rockers and the "cosmetic" outers are rotted away, the structural integrity is gone, therefore the car IS  "unsafe". Better off in that case to look for different transportation. Life in New England.....

Definitely appreciate this safety concern. I brought it to a welding shop that said it can be fixed but the quote was around $6,000. Oof. 
 

1 hour ago, Handy Don said:

 

During college I drove a ’66 VW Bug that was rusting. I “cleverly” patched it up with sheet metal and plywood (yeah?) and screws, bolts, rivets, etc. Thought I was cool beans. At the next NYS Inspection, it was red tagged and done.

It did live on, as the local tech trade school bought it and used the engine and all the running gear in a successful Formula Vee race car!

This is hilarious. Plywood haha. Used everything but the kitchen sink to fix that one up. Desperate times call for desperate measures!! 

[ri702bill 8,329]

Maz - I forgot to ask...... do the doors close OK and not make creaking, groaning sounds (like the Titanic breaking in half)???? 

[ri702bill 8,329]

3 minutes ago, Maz91 said:

it can be fixed but the quote was around $6,000. Oof. 

Hmm... $6K would be better spend towards another vehicle. Bet that tired "Suzy-Q" brings a decent scrap price.....

[Handy Don 12,235]

11 minutes ago, Maz91 said:

Desperate times call for desperate measures!! 

Exactly. Thankfully by the time it failed inspection I had some income and could afford to replace it with a used ’74 Rabbit.

Edited June 12 by Handy Don

[Tractorhead 9,064]

I bought me a SF Subaru Forester and my buddy meant 

„ you have to take care about the death grip“

i asked - what means the dead grip?

he told me if you grab beyond the rear fenders there must be some Metal.

Remove the inner Sidepanels, than you can see how far the rust was gone.

On most of the Subarus he have seen, there is all Sheetmetal rotted down so a Fix is very expensive.

the Side panels be fixable but after Fixing they must be urgently rust protected after paint job

- best with some Wax and Linseed Oil.  

So they last longer after Fixing.

 

 

6000 buck for 2 rocker panels ?

bee they made of Gold?

 

Oooouch, i ask my Buddy via Whatsapp quick what he meant as Expensive - better how much will it cost to exchange both sides, 

he meant 2.500- 3000 bucks will be his normally price - 2 grant for you.

but i must remove before all the Plastics.

 

That includes grind out all rusty parts, get some new Sheetmetal repairsets 400$ each Side

migsolder them new sheetmetal in, Grinding them flat and after that a simple rustprotection paintjob.

Not very nice but lasting.

in perfect condition he call 4000 bucks that includes 2k spatulas and a finishing Paintjob.

 

can not believe the pricerange will be that different for the same Task.

[Ed Kennell 38,216]

8 hours ago, OoPEZoO said:

 Its only weakness was welding thin material.  It would constantly blow holes through any sheet metal

If you have access to the underside, It helps to clamp a brass plate there for a heat sink.

[adsm08 2,069]

I bought one from EastWood last year at what I thought was a good price and I'm pretty happy with it.

 

MIG 140 I think was the model number.

[Sailman 1,291]

I am a simple amateur so take this with a grain of salt. Bought a nice Lincoln welder, learning to weld and my problem welding sheet metal was even on lowest setting I kept burning through the metal , maybe its just me.....thicker metals I can do ok.

[oliver2-44 9,759]

Steel weld material doesn’t stick to brass or copper. They are also a good heat sink, drawing the heat away. So when welding thin sheet metal clamp a scrap of brass or copper behind the weld area. I save scraps of copper plumbing pipe and mapper them flat or curved as needed. I wish I had some of the 1/4 x 4” copper bus bar we scrapped at work before I retired. But no scrap could be carried home. 

[Tractorhead 9,064]

6 hours ago, Sailman said:

I am a simple amateur so take this with a grain of salt. Bought a nice Lincoln welder, learning to weld and my problem welding sheet metal was even on lowest setting I kept burning through the metal , maybe its just me.....thicker metals I can do ok.

 

Try to just spot weld it if you wanna weld sheet metal.

firstly wide range spots and give them enough time for cooling down to reduce warping.

Than each step closer and allway‘s between the first spots and so on until it is a complete nearly closed weld.

 

Get firstly few parts of scrapmetal and try to spot them together and while doing this step by step reduce the Power

until you didn‘t burn it down. 

The advice with copper behind is right.

 

Another option to repair defect sheetmetal on Cars is to Mig Solder them with a CuSi3 wire and Argon.

That‘s now a common and allowed fixup in the Industry on sheetmetal.

 

benefits be Mig solder brings less temperatures into Material so warping can massive reduced.

a cheap HF Mig welder with few settings and gas support and wire feed is enough and works.

Just use CuSi3 wire instead of a normal Weld wire.

CuSi3 wire is more expensive but works much smoother.

 

try it.

[adsm08 2,069]

23 hours ago, Sailman said:

I am a simple amateur so take this with a grain of salt. Bought a nice Lincoln welder, learning to weld and my problem welding sheet metal was even on lowest setting I kept burning through the metal , maybe its just me.....thicker metals I can do ok.

 

If you are using a shielding gas a different mix is helpful. Most guys welding thicker metals use 25% CO2/75% Argon. Sheet metal mix is 5/95 CO2/Argon.

 

The Argon is inert and keeps other gases from the atmosphere from mixing into the weld and causing problems. The carbon helps stabilize the arc and lets it get hotter. Less CO2 = less heat. But for sheet metal you don't need a lot of heat.

 

If you are using an arc/stick welder you probably need thinner rods.

Edited June 14 by adsm08

[Handy Don 12,235]

Like practically everyone, sheet metal welding confounded me. With some advice from an expert (basically the same as the above) plus a bunch of practice I got to “adequate": low setting, spots instead of beads, move fast (you can always come back!).

 

The wire feed on my HF MIG 140 does help by starting the feed slowly until the arc is established before speeding up to my dialed setting. So quick dabs don’t cause a lot of extra wire.

 

When I switched from flux to gas, it did take me a while to adapt even on thicker metal because the puddle looks different!

 

Still, some days I can’t get a clean bead for anything and on other days the “stack o’ dimes” makes me feel proud!

[adsm08 2,069]

10 hours ago, Handy Don said:

When I switched from flux to gas, it did take me a while to adapt even on thicker metal because the puddle looks different!

 

Still, some days I can’t get a clean bead for anything and on other days the “stack o’ dimes” makes me feel proud!

 

Flux and gas are very different beasts.

 

I first learned to weld in 2000 in shop class with a stick welder and I could drop dimes from day one. I can almost never get it to look like that with gas. I can make good strong welds with my MIG, they just aren't nearly as pretty.

[Tractorhead 9,064]

The result in a nice Seam based upon several issues like Steel ( contamination or not) how clean the material is,

Gas ( mixture and flow ammount) Power ....and so on

and at least a nice seam while Welding is just primary just practice practice and practice

 

The more you do practiced with your Welder, the nicer become the seam.

 

But there be more items in visual  

Only good looking ones ( blender seam) or  just lasting seams they good looking.

after material is galvanized or painted the cannot be optical seperatet in what is what.

 

[rmaynard 15,512]

Just saw this ad come across Facebook. Not an endorsement, never tried it, just thought I'd add it to the mix of BUDGET (cheap) welders.

 

https://www.temu.com/kuiper/uk1.html?subj=goods-detail&_bg_fs=1&_p_mat2_type=a4002&_p_jump_id=1040&_x_vst_scene=adg&goods_id=601099537758825&_p_rfs=1&_x_ads_channel=kol_affiliate&_x_campaign=affiliate&_x_cid=2004397629kol_affiliate&_x_ads_csite=search&adg_ctx=a-998d07bf~l-e5a50bdd&g_site=100&g_lg=en&g_region=211&g_ccy=USD

[squonk 41,150]

On 6/12/2024 at 9:51 AM, Maz91 said:

Thank you for this tip - I did not know adhesives like that existed. I’m gonna check that out. 

 

Thank you for the recommendation. This is exactly the type of unit I am looking for! 
 

Definitely appreciate this safety concern. I brought it to a welding shop that said it can be fixed but the quote was around $6,000. Oof. 
 

This is hilarious. Plywood haha. Used everything but the kitchen sink to fix that one up. Desperate times call for desperate measures!! 

I worked summers at a golf course and bought a 61 Ford Falcon for $100.  It had 2 rear floor pans rotted out where a passenger would put their feet. We had 5 gal pails of this tree sealing goop. if you nicked a tree with a mower it would seal the wound. looked like tar. I used 2 pail lids to cover up the holes and sealed the lids in with the tree goop! 

Edited June 15 by squonk