Morning all. First post so go easy, lol

I have just bought my daughter a classic car, 1972 Triumph Spitfire. So thought buying a MIG welder would be a logical steps as there are, we are finding, a few areas on the body that will need cutting out and welding. This probably wont be our only classic so thought properly practicing and getting to a good standard of being able to weld would be well worth it.

This has probably been asked many times but are there any recommendations for a welder you can give?

Having read a bit we will be using Gas and the max really of metal we would be using is probably 2mm, I did read that you need something you can turn down to a lower amp, 20 I think as thinner metal can warp?
As I say totally new and any advice gratefully received.

Thanks

Ady

Hi, Thank for reply. New or Used I don't mind, as for budget I'm pretty flexible but not go mad. If i hit 1k my wife may kill me

Have a look at R-tech, forum sponsors with the button at the top of the page. Not the cheapest, but professional quality, they also have superb after sales service, pick up from home & a five year guarantee. I’ve never heard a bad word about them.

For your usage contract gas bottle is unlikely to be cost-effective.
Consider:

Sometimes the choice is simple - it's the only one in town.
Sometimes the choice is which agent can supply on a Sunday afternoon!

Adams gas is another rent free company, on their website you can put in your postcode & it will tell you stockists in the area.

....budget I'm pretty flexible but not go mad. If i hit 1k my wife may kill me

If you go rtech as above you WILL hit 1k with the other bits - there are budget options if you search on here tho.....but secondhand can be great if you know what your looking at and how to test it, otherwise risky....and sometimes people on here sell on their machines after trading up....

This is what I've used for the past 5 years on welding thin rusty french sh*te:

Blackline 200

Mines a rohr200 but its the exact same welder. It's done me really well and not had owt go wrong with it. All i had to do was change the barb fitting at the back for a BSP one to fit a gas line to it.
Found it to be a good all rounder but it is my first welder so I've not got owt to compare it against

Welcome! Do a few searches - this is a question that gets asked very often, and the advice will be the same with the only changes being the particular model of machine recommended depending on manufacturers' current ranges. Either you get a new, lighter inverter machine with a warranty (they are more likely to go wrong) or you buy a cheap, secondhand transformer machine that's heavier, much easier to repair and will carry on for decades.

With a couple of classic cars to deal with, certainly not 1k to hand, and all the welding that appears from friends and family once they know you can fix things, I was fine with a £50 Sealey 130XT Turbo from a Gumtree ad. The downsides were flimsy torch and wire feed, which required some time to fettle before it was satisfactory. Now I have a £160 1970s/80s Eland MIG200 which is big enough to have its own wheels, but has 24 voltage steps in its 200A range which is unusually fine control, so can be turned down for thin bodywork.

I'm a firm believer in keeping things as simple as possible (hence the classic car) so am happy with a big, old, cheap, robust welder without fancy features or computers to go wrong. I use rent-free gas from my local Motor Parts Direct via SGS. The owner is a member here, and may still be offering a cashback deal if you send him a message. If you do a search you'll come across the thread. Currently a 30l bottle is £105.60 for the gas, plus a £168 surcharge/deposit, refundable on return of the cylinder.

The BlackLine 200 referred to by Danez in Post #8 is also sold by Bimson Power and it is currently on sale again at a reduced price. Review here:

Get the car MOTed. Preferably by an older tester. The front wheel bearings catch out the newbies.
Give him a packet of biscuits first and ask him to check it all underneath.
Don't believe anything anyone has told you about the history.
Buy a gooloo or similar starter pack.
Have fun.

Get the car MOTed. Preferably by an older tester. The front wheel bearings catch out the newbies.
Give him a packet of biscuits first and ask him to check it all underneath.
Don't believe anything anyone has told you about the history.
Buy a gooloo or similar starter pack.
Have fun.

Boot floor is very prone to rust too, if my memory serves me correctly. I also think there is someone on the forum who has such a motor, or maybe a GT6 similar rust issues, but forget who it is.

Ah memories. My mum had 2 Spitfires when we were kids. Of course they hadn’t rusted away to dust at that time.

I would always recommend R-Tech as I’ve had 2 of their welders, but they aren’t cheap, just good value with excellent customer service to back it up.

If you are new to welding, then buy new from a proper welding company for the advice, not MachineMart or the like, I'd suggest an invetrer type as the settings are more precise,
transformer welders have step voltage, the more the better 6+ at the very least, but still have pcb's like inverters, so there's no getting away without electronics.
It's really important getting a good machine as buying cheap ones could leave you frustrated with poor results, that might easily be the machines fault & not yours.
I've been welding up cars for decades & hobby migs are complete junk imo, a 160amp is more than enough capable for restoration work. with 4m torch

This is what I've used for the past 5 years on welding thin rusty french sh*te:

Blackline 200

Mines a rohr200 but its the exact same welder. It's done me really well and not had owt go wrong with it. All i had to do was change the barb fitting at the back for a BSP one to fit a gas line to it.
Found it to be a good all rounder but it is my first welder so I've not got owt to compare it against

Another happy Blackline 200 owner. Im a very infrequent welder so it's not a huge investment left gathering dust, but so handy to have when you need to repair an exhaust hanger or fabricate a random bracket. Had mine over 5 years now. Working fine. Did use it to build a new trailer when I first got it so it can handle thicker material easily and the stick welding ability is handy too (when you run out of gas) although the mig is so handy I rarely use it.

I had a '69 Mk3 Spit when I was 18... forty-odd years ago
It wasn't in the greatest condition even then and it could only have been about 13 years old, surprised any of them are left.
I remember sitting on the front wheels to work on the engine, and taking the gearbox out through the passenger door... it had an overdrive unit as well, I bet they're like hen's teeth now.

A guy I worked with had a later 1500 and against all advice he started chopping rotten bits out with a grinder without actually welding anything in or bracing the door apertures etc... I think he sold it for buttons when it had just about folded in half.

Now I have a £160 1970s/80s Eland MIG200 which is big enough to have its own wheels, but has 24 voltage steps in its 200A range which is unusually fine control, so can be turned down for thin bodywork.

Sounds very similar to the Romarc 200A I have; 16 steps of which only the top three produce more than about 120A (tested using a tame monkey and a clamp meter ).
It is a bit hungry on a single-phase supply mind, I've had it tripping a 32A breaker at full output.

^^ Exactly right....at the price point a Clarke can punch above it's weight...I used a mig pro 90 for a few years - it had a nice low amperage of 25 amps, and was very usable - not the smoothest welder but not awful Probably £80 would buy a s/hand one now. Tbh though the more modern inverters (eg Bimson) are probably better buys now - smoother easier weld beads etc