I'd like to weld in my own roll cage and relocation brackets,because I don't know of any reliable places to have this done in the hampton roads area. I know some basics of welding and I've even done some before in high school. how much $$ could I spend to get some reasonable equipment buying/renting to get started on my own welding projects.....what materials could I use that are lightwieght but still strong enough?

I've got my entire interior removed and I'm probably not going to reuse the seats and seatbelts.....what would be the best kind of roll cage to build that's not too excessive but adds lot's of strength to the existing structure of the car? I know I'm not the only one to do this,any pictures?

 

Good DAMN question !!!

My old lady won't let me buy an Oxy setup till I take a class. Fear of death or something ?
I almost bought a MIG setup but the guy said it's not even good enough for a Cage job. On top of that you needed like 220volts + 40 amp at the minimum in my garage for a good setup.
That why I'm going Oxy. Well hopefully this summer OXY 101 .

Like you 'junkyarddog' I have roll cages, and all kinds of stuff to be done this summer.

I have to post some pic of my interior removal so for. The biggest pain was turning 50 miles of wiring into 6 circiuts.

Ron

 

You can buy a good quality Miller mig for around 1200.00 or you can buy a pretty good unit for 600.00 the rest is just trying it. Good luck

 

Mig is by far the easiest and gas welding would be damn near the hardest. The Mig machine will give you the best welds as opposed to gas for a beginner.

 

Ditto.

Personally, I'm stuck with a stick, but that 50+ year old Forney works pretty good for its age. Could use longer leads, though.

For the 220 VAC, I just stole the dryer circuit that our gas dryer wasn't using (laundry room next to the garage - ain't that convienent?).

 

go on ebay and look for a mig or wire welder. there are cheap little ones that you can get for under $200 and work w/ 110v. some can also get a bottle hook up. most can weld up to 3/16 inch steel ( i don't know if that's thick enough for your roll bar). the good ones also have a speed control for the wire built in to the voltage so it's easier for ametures. the only crevit is the duty cycle, which is usually about 20%; which means thatif you weld the thickest possible steel, you can only weld between 5 to 10 minutes an hour. and that's not constant welding time either.

jess

 

I got sick of being at the mercy of the muffler shops so I bought my own MIG. I had only general knowledge of how the machine worked but if you are mechanically inclined at all it isn't too hard.

Practice, Practice, Practice.

 

The cheapest/most versitle for the money option would just be an old fashioned AC stick welder. With practice they will do most everything you'll ever need on a car. The only thing I ever had to farm out was welding a sump onto my gastank. They;re not as easy to use as a mig, or as neat, but they get the job done.

 

I use a Miller-matic 130. Uses 120 volts and has the gas bottle for mig welding. Works fine for roll cages, frame connectors, engine stands and trailers. I wanted a 240 volt version but going from $450 for mine to $800+ was out of my budget. The 130 does everything that I want.