I am thinking of buying a MIG welder.
There is a local supply store that sells a brand called DECA which is an Italian manufacturer.
The welder I was thinking of buying retails for $349.00. CDN
the stats are
115 volt ac input 20 amp
70 amps@15% duty cycle
-automatic thermal shutdown protection
-4 heat settings,variable wire speed,live wire trigger
-comes with 0.023 MIG wire
-gas operation only
$50. to rent the tank for a year

The Lincoln weld-pak is $437. up here and 159 for the gas*conversion.

Anybody have any suggestions?

I puchased a Lincoln Handy Core 100 from Canadian Tire in Aug. Not knowing much about welders. it featured a wire feed, 2 heat settings for "light guage mild steel materials.
It listed for $379.99 but was on sale for $299. I bought it.
A friend of mine said I needed Argon as a sheilding gas so I returned it and purchased a Linkwelder SP 135 PLUS from BOC gases in Bracebridge. This machine has a variable wire feed and a variable voltage.
The Welder was $875.00 CDN and the Argon bottle was $184.99. Grand total, with taxes $1248.07.
I have just completed installing the floor pans in my 69 Malibu Conv. and and very happy with the result.
You are doing the right thing by checking with these people first. There are a lot of knowledgable guys out there.
my $.02
John

Miller, Hobart, and Lincoln are the only brands I recommend to anyone. And with the Lincolns, you still have to watch what you buy. There are two sold through Home Depot, the Weld Pak 100 and 155, which are throwaways. If something should burn out or break, you have about a 50-50 chance of it being repairable. Now the Lincoln Pro-Mig and SP 135 is another story. Those machines higher end machines and are as reliable as Hobart and Miller, and are repairable.

Check here first. http://www.welders-direct.com/merchant2/merchant.mv

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Bob McCormick
69 Malibu project

Listen, all I can say is buy a name brand that you can go to the neighborhood tool or welding supply and buy a part for.

I have a "Snap on" welder. It was made by Century for Snap On, though you would never know because all it says is Snap On on it.

Anyway, Century is actually a good brand, they make battery chargers and the "Solar" brand chargers and Welders.

I will NEVER do that again, I will buy Miller, Lincoln, Hobart, PERIOD.

The darn thing has been pretty reliable with only a few monor things in the 20 years I have had it. But, when it did go down it was a BITCH to get the darn parts. I wouldn't even think of buying one made in Italy, come on, would you buy a Fiat?

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1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
"Fan of most anything that moves human beings"

Somebody been shopping at Princess Auto. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif

I bought my Lincon Mig Pak 10 from Canadian Tire for 450$ CDN, sale price. They go on sale every spring and fall. Go check it out. Even if it's not on sale, sometimes they will let you have for the sale price.

Later
Steve

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66 327 Malibu (Written off Sept 1 2002 Hopefully can save)
80 Malibu Wagon(summer 2002)
"Rice Eating Pony Killer"

I have the lincoln 135SP, got it last
year after using a cheapo $250 mig for 10
years. What a difference, the lincoln makes
welding a no brainer and works fantastic. It
was around $650 and I already had the bottle
from the other mig. If you can afford it or
wait get yourself a good quality machine
because you definately get what you pay for.
My cheapo constantly had wire jams and I
was always fiddling with it to work smoothly.

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Dave
70 chevelle ss396 conv
66 chevelle ss396 hdp/conv
68/72 chevelles
55/57/61 chevies
TC member #493
Never forget Earnhardt!

Thanks guys,

I will wait on this one. I found someone who lives near me who will lend me his MIG welder. I just need to rent a tank. I think I might buy a new air compressor instead.