Two Questions: Shifter and welder

[Pirate]

Just got home from build school. What a great experience and some great guys and gal that I met. Great instructors too, Jim and Charles.

I have a question on the shifter position. I ordered my TKO from Forte with the midshift option because I didn't really like the rear position. Well at build school I got to actually see the rear shift position and mess around with it. I like it. Mike already put in the midshift option on my TKO and it'll cost me a little coin to have them put it back original, so I want to know pros and cons of each shifter position.

Second question, although I could get by easily without a welder my wife has been bugging me for one for quite some time and I thought maybe I could get her one for Christmas and reap the benefits of having someone at home to do any welding I might want to do. I was looking at welders and well I really don't know what I am looking at. She would know but I don't want to ask her and ruin the surprise. So what would be a good welder for auto/farm repair and restoration. I was looking at the Hobart 125 and 140.

Thanks,

Chris

[Mike N]

Chris.

Having driven my Roadster for 12 years now I have no regrets about keeping the original placement of the shifter with the canted forward design. A good short throw shifter is a must though.

As for the welder what sort of work are you planning on? Materials? Thicknesses? Will you be limited to 110v or is a 220v machine OK? What about portability? Welding with flux core wire will save you the price of a shielding gas tank and regulator but may not be the best for some welds. My son just bought a 170 amp flux core MIG machine from HF ($199) and I have to say that I am surprised at the quality of welds he is laying down.

[MVRight]

I don't have a welder - tempted though, but 2x everything Mike said. Did take a community college course on welding. One thing that made sense, get a welder that can get repair parts. Lincoln and Hobart were two that were discussed. Even some older ones can still be rebuilt, not so much with off brands.

[esff32]

I'm a Miller man myself. I currently have a Millermatic DVI which runs on either 110 or 220v depending on the thickness of the material. I also have a 3035 spoolgun attachment for welding aluminum. You could get away with a small welder such as the Millermatic 180 which also has the dual voltage capability. I am just biased because thats what I learned on and have never had one issue with them and like MVRight said, they have parts available.

[Jacob McCrea]

Regarding the welder, if you can afford it I would buy something like a Miller 211 mig welder, which is what I have. It has enough power to melt into fairly thick steel, which will open up a range of possibilities beyond something that is maxed out welding 1/8" or 3/16" steel. It also has enough power to run an aluminum spool gun, which again opens up a wide range of possibilities. The Miller 180 mentioned above should also work well; I have never used one but would guess that it works just fine, assuming you are cognizant of the machine's duty cycle.

I got by for years with a low end Sears gasless/flux core wire welder, but I never could have done the fabrication work I did on my Coupe with that old thing. I also had an old Solar mig, which was essentially for auto body work. It also lacked the power to melt into thick steel, and was essentially useless for what I would call "structural" welding. Also, as Mike said, and from what I understand, the Harbor Freight migs are a lot better than one might expect for their price and brand name.

[Pirate]

Thanks for all the welder advice. I am waiting on the electrician to get back to me on running a 220 line out to my garage.

Chris

[Mike N]

Chris.

I ran a 200v line out to my garage to hook the welder up, took 75 ft of wire. Due to the price of copper these days you will be shocked at how much it will cost you to run just that one line. In fact it will probably cost you as much or more than the welder to have someone do it for you. Depending on how you need to run the wire it should be a relatively simple DIY job. I did mine with guidance from an electrician on the forum :)

[CraigS]

Either shifter will be fine. I have the rear placement and never even think about it. Make a call to Mike, as I think the shifters are pretty easy to move so you could DIY it w/ a little phone help. Making an assumption that you are thinking about a Mig welder I can only suggest that you get one that has the option of running it w/ a gas bottle. W/ my admittedly slight experience w/ Mig I was able to do a lot better w/ gas than w/ flux core wire.

[MPTech]

my wife has been bugging me for one for quite some time...

Chris

OK, I have to ask. Does your wife weld or does she want you to? What does she want a welder for? repair work? Art? other? (sorry, just curious. I WISH my wife welded!)

I tried to avoid the welding projects on my build, only because I didn't have easy access to a welder, but if I had a welder or a close friend, I would have changed more things (you can decide if changing more things is good or bad :D).
As it was/is: I had my Stainless Steel Breeze roll bars welded (cost me $150) and had my header bungs welded (twice, don't ask) and going to have a temp sensor bung welded on my Canton pan.
If I had a welder, I would have redone the trunk 3/4" tubing for a better drop trunk, moved an angle cross bar in the tranny hump, welded in a full steel plate for the seat to mount to and a steel plate for the footwells. And maybe some other items.


As to the mid-shift. I have a T5, but modified it to have a mid-shift (with an MGW short throw). I REALLY LIKE IT, very comfortable and positive shifts. The rear location is OK (I've driven a couple), but I like the mid-shift better. If you want the vintage looks, go rear location, if you want better ergonomics, I prefer mid-shift.

[VdubJoe]

Chris,

Might as well get one. Once its in your head it will never go away. I'd get a 220 with the bottle use. Flus core sucks in my opinion. You will find all kind of things to do with it. Being you have a shop it will come in handy.
I have 140 from home depot works great. An old miller off craigslist for cheap works great. Wanted to learn to do some tig so found an old Lincoln 300/300 for 250.00. Does a bunch including stick.

Plus your wife can do art work. !!!

Sure was a good class and enjoyed meeting everyone.
And sure enjoyed getting off the plane and not seeing a of that white stuff.

Joe

[drdracing]

Chris, I have two millers. One for stick and tig, and a wire feed. The Millermatics are great machines and almost idiotproof. (They have to be for me to use them). Hope your wife likes whatever you get her. Dr. D

[Pirate]

Wife is in Agriculture (or use to be, she is a stay at home mom now) so she use to weld quite a bit. We have a mini farm with tractor, ranger etc... so when things break it'll be nice to have one. Plus it just gives me one more thing to have my wife to do on the car. I already have it planed for her to do the electrical she just doesn't know yet. I already called Mike and told him to put the shifter back to original position. I'll tell you what, Mike Forte is a good guy. I don't know how many times I have called and talked to him and he always takes the time out of his busy schedule. I'll be using him on my next build too.

Chris

[VdubJoe]

pm sent

[BULLITT428]

Wife is in Agriculture (or use to be, she is a stay at home mom now) so she use to weld quite a bit. We have a mini farm with tractor, ranger etc... so when things break it'll be nice to have one.

Millermatics 211 will cover everything you need to weld. I welded an aluminum gass tank up for a friend of mine on his tractor made a Stainless steel BBQ for another all using the Miller 211, have done all kinds of welding on my build steel and Aluminum. And with the Auto set built into the Miller 211 someone with some welding experienced or just alittle can make some good welds with this!

Ed.

[first time builder]

I have the Lincoln 120 Volt Mig works great, don't use it to weld aluminum. Best for Aliminum is tig.

Kenny

[Austexican]

Wife is in Agriculture (or use to be, she is a stay at home mom now) so she use to weld quite a bit. We have a mini farm with tractor, ranger etc... so when things break it'll be nice to have one. Plus it just gives me one more thing to have my wife to do on the car. I already have it planed for her to do the electrical she just doesn't know yet. I already called Mike and told him to put the shifter back to original position. I'll tell you what, Mike Forte is a good guy. I don't know how many times I have called and talked to him and he always takes the time out of his busy schedule. I'll be using him on my next build too.

Chris

Pirate, you have obtained your treasure. A wife who welds! I wish I had one. I thought I was lucky to meet a girl who came equipped with a miter box and a 1930 Model A Ford. She took over the carpentry, plumbing, and home improvement. I took over the care and maintenance and restoration of the Model A. I definitely thought I had the better end of the bargain.