Customs Mig or stick weld mount brackets

I own two electric welders, both about 40 years old now. My MIG is a 90/105A 120V Century, and my arc is a Miller 225A AC/DC unit. I've never seen any reason to 'upgrade' as these do everything I've ever wanted to do. While TIG has its place, I'm not welding chrome moly or building pressure vessels so see no need for one given all the trick gas and stick rods for more exotic metals that you can buy now. I've welded 18 gauge stainless with 3/32 stainless stick rod more than once. But I'm not trying to impress anyone with 'pretty', I just want something that won't break. To each his own...

I use a simple rule for which welder I use. If the thickest material I'm welding to is 1/8" or less, I'll use the MIG. Any one piece thicker, I'll switch to arc. It's not easy to get good penetration on thicker material with a MIG. If you're dealing with thick-to-thin, the trick is to keep your arc puddle favoring towards the thicker material, just letting the edge contact the thinner side. And you can't just strike the arc and then drag it, you do need to lightly oscillate it onto the thinner side to be sure you get penetration. I couldn't begin to tell you how many pieces of 14 gauge (just slightly thicker than 1/16") Unistrut I welded to thick flanges (open cut end against the flange in most cases) on columns and beams at work with no failures, this is how I did it. I got to where I could fill 1/4" gaps when I got a ****ty fit-up...

If you're unsure of your welding skills, I'll recommend you get some s**** 1/4" and a 'slightly-thinner-than-the frame' s**** and practice before committing to the car. If you're using a DC machine, start at about 90 amps with 1/8" rod. AC go 5 to 10 more. When you get a weld you can't break, you're ready.

 

Sold my stick welder once I bought my Miller mig. Never missed it so far, and the mig has built numerous cars, doing all sorts of fab since.