The art of car crafting can be traced all the way back to those early enthusiasts who weren't afraid to dive right in and build what they couldn't buy. Today, there seems to be a kit for just about any project you can contemplate, but there's still a place for those hardy souls willing to build stuff cheaper themselves.
Fabricating usually entails fusing metal. In the old days, that meant using an AC stick welder. The problem with stick welders is that they're almost impossible to use for joining thin sheetmetal. About 20 years ago, the welding companies hit upon the idea of building affordable MIG welders that run on common 120-volt house current for the do-it-yourselfer.
The term "MIG" is an acronym for "metal inert gas" welding where electrical current is fed down a thin, flexible wire instead of a large-diameter stick. All quality welding requires a process that will purge ambient air from around the weld puddle to create an environment conducive to good penetration and prevent inclusions, which are holes or voids in the weld. Stick welders use a flux material that melts, creating a protective covering over the molten puddle of metal until it cools. Once cooled, the flux can then be chipped away to reveal the weld for inspection.
MIG welding replaces the flux material with an inert gas (either carbon dioxide or a mixture of argon and carbon dioxide) that is introduced around the weld puddle during the welding process. MIG welders use a flexible sleeve to direct the metal wire onto the welding surface. The gas is transported between the inner and outer sleeves and introduced around the work surface. This means that a typical MIG welder must also have a separate high-pressure gas bottle and regulator. Budget versions of basic MIG welders use a flux-core wire that eliminates the need for the high-pressure tank, but these require cleaning the flux from the weld once the weld cools much like a stick welder.
The key to any home-welding project is to create sufficient weld penetration to ensure that the two pieces being fused are permanently joined. A good weld will result in significant heat penetration into both pieces of metal. This heat creates a bond that is strong enough that the welded portion is as strong, if not stronger, than the parent metal.
The best way to learn basic welding technique is to sign up for an adult extension class at your local school if one is offered. At the very least, we'd recommend significant practice before attempting to build any tool or component that could be dangerous if the weld failed. So outsource those major chassis modifications until you become proficient with your welder. But that said, don't shy away from replacing those rusted trunk floorpans just because the job looks too difficult. That is one of the first tasks we took on with our first home MIG welder, and in two weekends of methodical work, we had a completed job that was very rewarding.
We recently had a chance to experiment with a new Craftsman home shop 120-volt MIG welder. The welder offers enough power to weld up to 31/416-inch plate and even thicker metals with multiple passes. Rather than just play around with it, we decided to dive into a couple of specialty tool projects for our shop that we could actually use. We cranked out an engine perch for a small-block Chevy out of one 10-foot length of 1-inch square tubing. We also duplicated a simple engine lift plate out of 11/44-inch-thick square plate. Finally, we made a locking bar for our next 12-bolt rearend buildup using another 5-foot length of 1-inch square tubing along with a small chunk of steel plate that's drilled for the pinion flange.
IG welding can be a lot of fun, and it won't take you long to come up with all kinds of ideas for projects, tools, and widgets you can create. Craftsman tells us that you can even convert this welder to MIG-weld aluminum with proper changes to polarity and a different shielding gas. We haven't tried that yet, but this just adds to this little welder's versatility.
Parts List Component Source PN Price MIG welder Craftsman 0920569 $299.99 Shielding gas kit Craftsman 0920171 79.99 Helmet, autodark Craftsman 0920743 99.99 Twin Cutter Craftsman 0926829 179.99