ARC welder or MIG for my Car Manifold

By Mz3bo Date 01-21-2003 03:06

Hi, first of all, happy new year to all from Montreal (canada)... I am new in here as well as in Welding technique and procedures. As my favorite hobby, I am in the process of building my own import performance car. This said, I want to invest into a welder with a 300-500$ budget. My goal is: I need to weld custom Exhaust and Exhaust manifold. The manifold will be made of steel with a thickness of ?? It's called schedule 40 on mcmaster.com ... That manifold will support heat up to 1500degrees farentheit. The exhaust are basically the same material as usual car exaust system (maybe I'll go stailes steel 304).

My question is, what kind of welder should i get.. Arc or MIG. Considering I can buy a 225amp 240 volt Arc welder or a 110V 100Amp MIG welder with my budget.. wich one would you go for?.

By jwright650 (*****)

Date 01-22-2003 13:14

You can pick up a small mig machine on the upper end of your budget. I would recommend at least 135 to 175 amp machine. I have a Hobart 135 w/ gas regulators 115v (no tank or gas included) for $400 at home and it does a nice job on exhaust systems. I've welded thicker materials with it but it takes some time because you have to run such small passes because of the size of the machine and duty cycle. I can get to more places under the car with the mig gun, than I can with a SMAW rod.
Many types of wire and gases available for those machines.
Anyway good luck with your decision,
John Wright