MadaboutKitcars

I've introduced myself to a few on here and as you know, I'm new to the kit car scene but I've spent a fair bit of time restoring and fettling 4x4's over the years, so generally know my way around vehicles.

I'm no nearer deciding which budget kit and or donor car to go for, but one thing seems certain, I'm going to need to fabricate, which I enjoy. Since it has been a few years since my crappy Cosmo mig gave up the ghost I thought I ask for any 'budget' recommendations for mig welder that you guys may have used.

I know like everything you get what you pay for, but I'm quite happy to dip into the used market and I'm keen to avoid the cheap Chinese versions like the Pos Cosmos that I had previously.

I'm also keen for any suggestions for to help with my kit car decisions. I'm initially swaying towards the newer donor car based kits, mx5, e36 etc due to reliability of donors and less fettling/reviving needed, but I'm open minded. Budgets are tight which makes the Sammio, Ribble and Tributes seem appealing.

Buy the Z300S and you don't need to weld anything, 10mm - 17mm socket set and a bit of paste to bond the bonnet.

http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4253

Ringo - I started off using the blue welder on the right as my mate lent it to me for my project.

It could cope with the welding work I needed, but started playing up when I was in the middle of my epic bulkhead repairs.

So I bought the red one on the left from Machine Mart as they had next day delivery (<£290).

If I wasn't in the middle of such a big job I'd have waited for a second hand one to come up on Ebay.



The new welder is great, easy for a novice like me to use and will do everything that I need for my build.

Note:
As I'm mentioned on my build, the new Ribble & Miglia kits do not need a fraction of the welding I've done.



If you want to use a modern MX5 or Z3 as your donor car, then look no further than the kits Tribute have / are developing.

But to pick up on your point about enjoying fabricating, then the Ribble & Miglia kits might offer more opportunity to "play".

There seems to be a much wider variation in the way the Ribble & Miglia kits turn out.

However, if you want a quick build, keep what ever kit you choice as close to "standard" as possible.

Good luck, Paul.

Cheers Paul. I learned to weld the same way you have, through necessity.the Cosmo welder I bought was atrocious with constant wire feed problems but at 175 amps it was ample for the thin metal work that I was heading at the time - a Samurai 413