I bought my Millermatic 135 from an ebay seller named "weldfabulous". They gave me a pretty good deal. It was the 135, a Hobart helmet and a pair of gloves for $607 including shipping. Then I had to get a tank which was $135 IIRC, cart was ~$50 or so. When I put my regulator on the bottle it IMMEDIATELY blew up. I could have sent it back to Miller, but in talking with some friends apparently the regulator that the Miller and Lincoln comes with sucks, so I just bought a nicer one which was ~$100. Other little odds and ends makes up the rest of the $900.

The thing I like about the Miller 135 or the Lincoln 135+ or equivalent is the infinite heat AND wire speed controls. Some of the cheaper units don't have the infinite heat adjustment, instead they have 4 or 5 click settings. This can be worked around, but I wanted to really be able to fine tune it, and I thought it justified the price difference between say a Hobart 135 and the Miller (which truth be told have a lot of the same parts in them). I'm stitch welding the chassis on my car so I'm doing A LOT of sheet metal welding.

I'm a relative newbie to welding, but I have to say I've made some SWEET looking welds with this Miller, and I attribute that to the welder much more than the operator.

Very helpful.

Self-taught? Any resources you can recommend for learning? I've never done any welding but am probably going to get into it and that sounds like a decent set-up.

I just read a bunch of stuff online, started with the recommendations for amps and wirespeed on the welder itself, then I had a friend who has welded for years give me a few tips, probably the most helpful was to listen to the sound of the arc and adjust the wirespeed accordingly. If it sounds smooth then you've got it about right. If it is popping and sputtering then the wire speed is too fast. I'm not the be all end all welder though. I've thought about taking a class at the local community college, just never seem to get around to it.

Very helpful.

Self-taught? Any resources you can recommend for learning?

Check with your local community college or tech school. The one in my town had an evening class on welding. 6 weeks and it was worth the money. Hands on training.

Chris

I've arc welded for a long time and can tell you it works great when dealing with 3/16" or thicker steel, sheet metal no way, you can't turn it down far enough to prevent burn through and hold an arc even with 1/16" rod. On a Z it can be a challenge to MIG and not burn through at times.

My setup is a Hobart 140, I think it was around $450 or so, another $100 for tank rental and gas, bought a $160 Lincoln auto helmet (best money spent), and built my own cart with the welder and some old lawn mower wheels. I've a little over $700 invested and it has paid me back many times already. I've used it to redo the body on a 91 Jimmy, quarters on my son's 87 Ranger, doglegs and rockers on the Z and a million other projects that have cropped up since I got it. Used it to build a wood splitter this year that has split all of the wood to heat my shop and my parent's house, have $150 in the splitter, if I had bought one it would have cost $600, almost paid for the welder again!

But back to your question, prep your metal with a grinder, no paint or rust allowed. Make sure your ground clamp is on clean metal as close as possible to your welding point. I usually tap the end of the rod against the floor a couple of times to clean the end, don't really know if it helps but old habits are hard to break Then with both hands on the rod holder drag the rod against the work at the weld point, too fast and all you'll get are sparks, too slow and the rod will stick to the work, if it sticks wiggle it back and forth quickly to break it free or release it from the holder before it glows and melts Once you are able to strike the arc you must pull the rod away from the work a bit to maintain the arc, pull back about 1/16", of course the whole time you are welding you must feed the rod in... Crazy stuff right I recommend you pick up some pieces of 1/4" steel plate and practice on them, the heavier the metal the easier it is to arc weld. Though the arc welder won't get you what you want on your Z it will have many uses in fabicating things like engine stands and lifts, metal tables and a score of other things. Look in your area for a dealer in used metal, I have one locally where I can get square and round tubing, angle iron, and plate for $.30 a pound, nothing like making you own engine stand for $10, see the payback is starting already!!

Rod selection is important too, 6011 (around here it's called farmer rod) is good for rusty painted metal, probably my most used rod on tractors and implements, 6013 works well on new steel for me, though 6011 works there too. There are many others to select from but usually either of these will get you through any usual "home" project. One nice thing with arc that you can't easily do with MIG is weld cast iron, not that we all do a lot of that but it can be a handy option if you need it.

I have a electric hobart. Cant remember the size at this point. But You cant beet it. Exept the 30 dollers of wire you go through a week.

If you dont know how then may i suggest you find somebody else to do it for you. I takes practice.

I have a electric hobart. Cant remember the size at this point. But You cant beet it. Exept the 30 dollers of wire you go through a week.

If you dont know how then may i suggest you find somebody else to do it for you. I takes practice.

$30 dollars of wire a week??? What ya building a battleship???? Took me at least 6 months to go through a 10 lb spool, and I thought I did a lot of welding!!!

Well i weld more then just that car .

Not exactly 30 a week. But i do go through alot. Everytime i get started im always out of wire

I had to weld in new floors and rails, pluse querter (sp) panels and rockers. And im not dont yet. Im getting ready to make a whole new battery tray...yippee

It's always hard to start something new as mentioned in the previous posts.The ARC welder is for heavy metal and the Z body is very thin.

Not mentioned is that you can not weld rust. If your a very visual learner then take a class at the local community college. You'd be surprised how fast you can pick up the art. You'll learn that arc is only one of the many welding types (gas, Mig, Tig...etc) and going through a class you will see it all.

ZC

It's always hard to start something new as mentioned in the previous posts.The ARC welder is for heavy metal and the Z body is very thin.

Not mentioned is that you can not weld rust. If your a very visual learner then take a class at the local community college. You'd be surprised how fast you can pick up the art. You'll learn that arc is only one of the many welding types (gas, Mig, Tig...etc) and going through a class you will see it all.

ZC

this is verytrue. I took two semesters at night at the local community vo-tech school. I can welds arc and MIG better than most, and Iv'e been known to show-up a few welders at the job site (I'm a bridge engineer)

jw goodliffe is a great online vendor for welders. www.cyberweld.com

I leaned on a Linde machine, which has since become part oif ESAB

i am usually one who learns with practice. Ive had experience with a mig welder and might i add that was a hell of alot easier than arc. i think im goin to get a small mig for this job and return this arc welder. Would a small gassless mig cut it? one of those portabtle 110v ones? I used one for some welding on a 4-wheeler frame and it worked perfect. I plan on doing patches in the frame rail, floor boards, and unibody.

I have one of those. (110V. gassless mig) I've used it for just about everything from welding bed frames to exhaust system repair. I've gotten pretty good with it over the years but I would still leave the heavy welding to a professional. Costs less in the long run if you factor in the cost of owning all the different types of welding equipment.