xale Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 I bought a 240z about 3 years ago and finally have some money and a place to work on it. I want to get started here in the next month but I am starting fresh as far as tools go :-/ I found a deal online to get this welder http://www.eastwood.com/mig-welder-110vac-135a-output.html for $199 most reviews I read people paid 300-400 for it and I see great feedback on it. From your guys experience would this be sufficient? My Z is pretty rusty and will need new floors/ more than likely frame rails. (Its set to be shipped to me later this month or Id take a closer look) If I recall nothing on the Z was 1/4" or above. I am going to be tearing this guy down to the frame and have seen some homemade rotisseries that look like they would make things a lot easier. Has anyone tried multiple or heard bad/good things from certain designs? Iv looked up a few but I have just seen a general idea applied and a picture but no exact measurements. Well I know I have plenty of research to do. I spent a good 3-4 hours yesterday looking up bodywork and Il tell you atleast 1/4 of that time was wasted by ill practice in my opinion. I would like to start stripping my Z down as soon as I get it and hate 5 trips to Lowes in one day lol. If you can throw a list of tools you use frequently during resto and tools you didn't have and had to make a trip for that would be awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Gadsby Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 I built my own rotisserie in my garage. Used a lot of overkill steel (1/4" 2x2 tubing) and love it. Cost about 200 with steel, wheels and pins. I have a basic Autocad drawing I did to build it. It's not broken down into individual pieces but is drawn full size so easy to measure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xale Posted July 13, 2015 Author Share Posted July 13, 2015 I built my own rotisserie in my garage. Used a lot of overkill steel (1/4" 2x2 tubing) and love it. Cost about 200 with steel, wheels and pins. I have a basic Autocad drawing I did to build it. It's not broken down into individual pieces but is drawn full size so easy to measure. Ah, could you share your cad and possibly a picture? I am seeing now that I need a truck to do anything. Bring in the metal or even wood for shelves... I have an FRS but it looks like il be trading that in here soon for a truck. I just got a few roommates to help with house cost and parking is limited.... What welder did you go with? and where did you get your tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Gadsby Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 The welder I used was a beast before a lightning storm took it out. I used a thermal arc 300 amp stick welder. Now have a Tweco Fabricator 211i that does tig mig and stick dc style. I actually bought one of harbor freights little tanks and exchanged with my local jobber for a full one. Our local guy rents the large tanks at a decent price. Pm you email and I will send you the cad file. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xale Posted July 13, 2015 Author Share Posted July 13, 2015 The welder I used was a beast before a lightning storm took it out. I used a thermal arc 300 amp stick welder. Now have a Tweco Fabricator 211i that does tig mig and stick dc style. I actually bought one of harbor freights little tanks and exchanged with my local jobber for a full one. Our local guy rents the large tanks at a decent price. Pm you email and I will send you the cad file. That looks pretty great from the pic, I PMd. So since you are the only one responding so far Iv done quite a bit of searching and about all I see is the thickest metal is the floor pans and frame rails at 18gauge. Con you confirm that with your own experience? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Welcome sir, yes make sure to post pictures! Seems fine, I haven't played with that specific unit, but it has a gas attachment, adjustable speed and amperage. Not much more you can ask for a cheap welder. Three year warranty is pretty fantastic to boot. Double harbor freight engine stands is a go to for a rotisserie. Easy and cheap. With a welder you can really build your own. Regarding tools...depends on if you want to stay electric or air powered. 2-3 diegrinder. I would say ideally 4 or 5. I keep a cut off wheel on one, a grinder on the other, a wire brush on the third and the others for backup. Sawzall Drill or even better a drill press Electric metal shears Bending brake Holesaw Step drill Tape measure Permanent markers Masking tape Metal shears Hammer Drifts Punches That is what sits in my demo/fab tool box As others will say with all those tools you should also grab all the right safety equipment, respirator, heavy duty gloves, face shield, welding masks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NgoZ Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 I have and use that Eastwood welder. Works great for my needs. Did frame rails and patched floor boards. What jester said on the tools and safety equipment, for items I use only a few times I went to Harbor Freight, anything that I will use often I bought better quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Gadsby Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 That is a good welder for sheet metal, a little small for fabrication though. Welders and air compressors are two tools I would not skimp on. Get something that will suite your needs now and anything that may arise later. Most use 18 ga on the floors, I am using 16 since it is what I have on hand. So far so good. If you can get 18, do so. I have spent as much in tools as I have car parts for this car it seems. But if you take care of em, tools will be around a long long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xale Posted July 14, 2015 Author Share Posted July 14, 2015 Wow! thanks everyone for your responses! I am tempted to buy that mig right now... I am kinda hesitant, wanting to take a look at my Z again. Sorry if my next few questions are ignorant sounding. I like to do and will do research, I just cant beat having a few seasoned Z fans guiding me. I am in the middle on air vs electric. It looks like air has more power, more durable, wet/dry... I see electric has an equivalent to everything and its more portable (battery or long cord) less noise... It looks like from the list @seattlejester gave me the only air tool I see is the die grinders. I assume If I went air i would get an impact wrench and an orbital sander and such... Can I get some more feed back from you guys on air vs electric? My only foreseeable projects for now are this Z and I suppose another if this one doesn't kill me. With the engine stand rotisserie, is there enough clearance to have the car completely on its side, or to do full rolls? If you could post a pic or two of yours that would be great! Ah yes, if you do choose air, can you give me recommendations, or specs on a tank that I can keep in mind as Im looking for one? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naptown Dave Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 (edited) I've ran three 8lb spools of wire through my little Eastwood and haven't had a problem at all. If you weld heavier pieces of metal you need to account for the reduced power and design the joint to make multiple passes. Google weld joint design and you'll see what I mean. In my opinion the best thing about air vs electric is in air die grinders and cut off tools, you have the ability to throttle the speed and they are smaller and seem a little safer. Edited July 14, 2015 by Naptown Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeK Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 (edited) Air is great. And air tools are typically alot cheaper than their electric counterparts. But you have to have a pretty big compressor. Look at the cfm needs of what tools you'll run, then look for a compressor that does maybe 25% more. Edited July 14, 2015 by JoeK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Gadsby Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Plenty of room here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xale Posted July 14, 2015 Author Share Posted July 14, 2015 Allright, when I get some time later tonight I will spec out a compressor and some tools and see what you guys think. I should also have enough time to make a google sketch up of Jay's rotisserie. I am not fancy enough to use cad haha.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 The die grinder I was referring to was the electric 10-15$ angle grinder from harbor freight. I use mostly electric, it is nice for the portability not having to have a hose follow you everywhere, and my current situation doesn't allow me to park a big compressor anyways so my options are limited. When I was doing a lot of cutting I bought my electric angle die grinders with warranty from harbor freight ~$20, I could use them up in about a month or two and they would keep giving me new ones as the old ones burned up. The newer design makes it harder to swap out the carbon brushes, but they seem to last a lot longer. For air, unless you can afford to purchase and run a big compressor (they are pretty darn loud when they kick on) I'm not sure I would recommend them. I've run a couple small ones in series as I have seen others do to keep the CFM's up, but the energy bill kind of killed any benefit of using the compressor. The benefit is the tools are cheaper and you don't replace them since the motor don't burn out (they don't have one), but the noise and the initial cost of the compressor can be a turn off. On the other hand there are quite a few tools that don't have electric counter parts (pneumatic hole puncher, pneumatic flangers etc etc), the tools are physically smaller so fit better into tight spaces, and once your setup you are pretty much set. For me, I don't have space anymore so I don't tend to spend long hours working on my car, maybe an afternoon there or maybe even an hour or two when I can squeeze it in, that means having to wait to build up air pressure is not really beneficial to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xale Posted July 16, 2015 Author Share Posted July 16, 2015 Interesting. Thanks for that Seattle. (I am from Tri cities 4 hours east of Seattle. I just moved to Utah a few months ago tho :-/) I am a little concerned about noise to a point. The area where I live houses are pretty close together... I mean I know you can't be completely silent, but avoiding unnecessary noise would probably be good. Im still looking around at tools and the last two days been looking at trucks. I have spent all my free time looking for a decent truck, but holly hell Tacoma's hold their value so well I might just go new. My goals for the week are to get some tools/welder ordered and finish the Google sketch up rotisserie........... Looks like I got a Harbor Freight within 20 mins of me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeK Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 The metal work grinding and cuttiing will be lounder than most any compressor. But I think you'll find that a comptressor to handle what you want to do will start at $900 to just barely get you by. And it can get really frustrating having to stop every couple minutes for your conmressor to recharge. You might find a used compressor for less on Craigslist depending on how active it is in your community. Paint sprayers and media blasters are the only tools in my shop that you MUST have air for. I use electric for everthing I can, for the reasons stated above. Used Frontiers are much cheaper than used Tacomas. Asking prices from people selling Tacomas seem to think that 60k miles and 3 years old means it's worth $2k less than what they bought it for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Duncan Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 (edited) Put a hitch on your car and get a small utility trailer. I haul 20' tubing with a trailer and a Prius. I use the trailer about 6 times a year, not worth it to buy a truck. If you have a lot of rust you might want a blasting cabinet and a sand blaster, in which case you need a 2 stage compressor. I got one off Craigslist for $400, cost about $1000 new. They are noisy though, I try not to run mine after 10pm. If you are doing your own body work an air file and a DA save a lot of work and the only way to run them is with a 2 stage. I built a rotisserie out of 2 Harbor freight engine stands. They normally bolt together and a piece of 2"x2" tubing fits right in the bottom center leg. They are not tall enough to turn the car upside down, if you want to do that you have to extend the vertical tube. The problem is though when it's high enough to turn upside down then it's too high to work on when it's right side up. Consequently some rotisserie designs incorporate a jack to raise it up and down. I used 1/8" wall tubing and it works fine, anything more is just heavier to lug around and costs more. Edited July 17, 2015 by Chris Duncan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xale Posted July 17, 2015 Author Share Posted July 17, 2015 I checked my Garage and I do not have a 240v. In fact I only have have 5 outlets, two of which are on the ceiling for the garage opener and a single for the sprinklers. They really only put 1 set for normal use. wtf. A two car garage and I get 2 accessible outlets. @chris can you post a pic of your rotisserie? I am pretty limited on space and would have no where to put a trailer... Also during my move into this house my snow tires got stolen and Im not going to buy another set just to have a car that kinda hardly gets around in the snow.... I figure for how things are right now for me a truck DD will do until i get my Z going strong. Back to the 240v.. I have seen some sand blast and paint tools that could operate on a 5-7cfm so i could run a 120v and I could electric the rest of the tools. Having an electrician wire a few more outlets and a 240v seems expensive but I guess I can give them a call and see. I have been also looking into getting 2 120v and such but need more research.... Hopefully I will make a decision (or have it made for me) and start buying tools this weekend.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 If you get 2 120v you will most likely be tripping the breaker really often. To run mine with two I had one plugged in at the kitchen and one at the garage. After running it for two days doing sanding/grinding the 100$ bump in the electricity bill made me really think if it was worth it. With that said, I couldn't imagine fabricating without my pneumatic flanger and hole puncher, the manual ones just take soo much effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1969honda Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 (edited) Where at in Utah are you? If you have 220v for the dryer/furnace/AC you could always pull a line from there and make sure to not run both at the same time, if you did it would just trip the breaker. Also try KSl.com, their classifieds is much more popular than Craig's list here in utah. Not to thread jack but could I get a copy of your rotisserie cad file Jay? Edited July 20, 2015 by 1969honda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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