im in the process of fixing the rusted out floor pan in my 82 camaro i got just about all the metal bent and screwed down so its getting time to weld it up. my buddy is going to let me borrow his matco mig welder, he said all i gotta get is a tank of argon gas and i found a place that i can order it from but i didnt realize how expensive that stuff is they told me $85 for this small empty bottle and $65 to have it filled. my question is instead of getting the tank of argon gas can i just buy a spool of the self shielding wire and if so what thickness wire should i get (the sheet metal i bought is 16 gauge and its getting welded up to the parts of the floor pan thats still solid) thanks, john

it all depends on the welder if you can use flux core wire or not it should tell you on the welder its usually says it around were the wire goes and the same for the thickness of the wire but its probable going to be around .035 wire

Thats cause your asking for the worng stuff, or they are bending you over.
Argon can be used for steel, but its NOT needed. It is NEEDED if you where doing ALUMINUM. For steel you can use a mix of co2 and argon.
Northern tools has an exchange program. Its only 25 bucks or for a small bottle and the larger bottlets are only 40 ( the 4.5tf tall by 10 inch diameter ones)

Correct... You want to just ask for MIG gas. Not a bottle of argon. Most places will know that MIG gas is the mix... but make sure. The first bottle is going to be expensive. The price has gone up quite a bit due to the price of steel...since you are in fact buying the bottle.

The refills are usually under $20 for a scuba tank sized bottle. Atleast around me thats what it is...

Now...if you want to try to use flux there are a couple things. One...as someone said, the machine needs to be set up to use it. Also usually requires switching the leades for the torch (reversing polarity) if its set up to use gas. For that thin sheet metal, you want something less than .035... Ide try to get .023 if you can. I forget what sizes flux wire comes in, but you should be able to get something less than .035. Also make sure the tips that he has with the welder can be matched to the wire size.

My advice...get the gas, and use a thin wire. Welding with gas is a lot easier, and its much easier to make nice welds. Thats just in my experience of course... When I first started learning, using flux made crappy looking welds. Switched to gas, and it was night and day.

When welding floor pans/sheet metal you are more or less doing little stitch welds anyway. And being on the floor, they dont have to be the prettiest ever.

J.

I love my flux mig welder and even though the slag is sometimes to much and the restriction on metal thickness due to burning holes through. I can weld outside in any condition and if you can make a flux weld pretty you can make any weld pretty.

I agree, get the gas bottle. Much easier to weld and while it doesn't have to look pretty, why make more grinding work than you have to? The carpet still needs to lay flat on the floor. You also have a lot less spatter with the gas and if you haven't taken the entire interior out you don't want to risk having little burn holes in everything. Maybe make your buddy split the cost with you cause you shouldn't need an entire bottle. Unless your replacing the ENTIRE floor on both sides and doing it in small sections at a time.

ghettocruiser - Where are you buying your gas bottles? I'm in SW PA and the cheapest I have been able to find for an exchange of that size bottle is 35-40.

I generally go to KEEN Gas and Supply. There are a few of them around in PA. Its actually been awhile since I got an exchange...but Im going tomorrow to get a re-fill...so Ill check the cost. I dont recall ever paying 35+ though...

J.

i find that co2-argon mix and ..023 wire works very well for any car project. Gas is not very expensive, i have an outright(?) sized tank and filling it is like 40 bux, its a good sized tank

Use shielding gas. Flux core makes nasty lookin welds and its much harder to run a decent bead.

thanks for the feed back guys... i forgot the name of the company i was gonna get the tank from but i know i did tell them i wanted argon not the mix of the two gases so maybe that will drop the price a little for me

Yeah the price should change some...

92RS_Ttop: I just got a bottle today. It was $25 out the door. Thats with tax, and the $3 HAZMAT fee. I forgot to check the actual size of the bottle. Its about 3' tall though.

J.

the gas mixture your looking for is called C-25 its 25% CO2 and 75% argon


i get 2 88ci tanks filled every couple weeks and it is never more then $60 to fill both of them

just bought a welder and tank this weekend from northern.
The tank was a #3 (80 ci) sized tank, cost $225 and $30 for contents.
Where as a #1 (20ci) cost 19 to fill. Buy a bigger tank they are cheaper to fill.