How bad is Gasless welding?

What I feared ... okay dokey thanks.

How about this? www.ebay.co.uk/itm/371604421400?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Is that worth my money?

i wouldnt personally, it would be a false economy.

i would be looking at a good quality work horse, something like this, www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Murex-Tradesmig-160-240-v-mig-welder-single-phase-trades-mig-esab-/301973695111?hash=item464f08ea87:g:x70AAOSwAahXPODp it may end at the same sort of price as that new one and be ideal for the job plus give you hassle free service.

and remember to budget for gas, as you will need it.


you might find a clarke mig for sale quite cheap locally to you, they're not great but theres a lot around and would be good to learn on.

Fair enough. I just don't want to do any bodge jobs on the Jag - it doesn't seem right. Of course, half of it is the operator, but I'd like to not limit myself too much before I even turn on the plug.

Before you go anywhere near your car please sign up for a college / night school welding course. If you are still at school / college / in education then I THINK such night school courses might be free. Better to be taught how to weld properly rather than teaching yourself. I cringe every time I read about peoples work and they say "it might not be pretty but is strong" when they have no idea what they have done is absolute rubbish.
I spent a year at night school in 1981 to gain an industrial welding certificate and worth every minute of the course.

My DT teacher is going to privately teach me to do it anyway ... thanks for the tips.

I have both gas and gasless welders and other than the fact the gasless has a slightly dirtier weld than the gas one it still performs very well.
It would be easier to learn on gas and go back to gasless, but probably harder the other way round.

As others have said, if you want the option to weld gas-less, buy a gas/no gas model, then you can run either, thus giving you the best of both worlds. Gas-less has its uses. I've welded stuff up on a windy winter day, where a gas mig would not have worked. It is fairly good on thick steel, but on thin steel like bodywork it can be much trickier to get good weld penetration. You either end up blowing holes in the metal, or leaving messy metal blobs all over the panel! Gas-less also works much better with clean steel than it does with rusty, thin metal.

I know nothing about welding but I've seen quite a few items in the press over the years about people's cars, (classics or otherwise), going up in flames during welding work.

Given that you'll presumably be doing work from a position of novice you'd just need to be alert to the potential for this.

Things that you can do to mitigate for such incidents:-
Ensure that you have a variety of appropriate fire extinguishers readily to hand whenever you're welding or doing any other similarly risky work.
Make sure that your fuel system is not compromised at any point; e.g. dribbles from a perforated fuel line could be all that it takes to get a hold.
If you're working in the immediate vicinity of elements of the fuel system it will possibly be worth you emptying the car of fuel and temporarily removing components such as tank(s) or fuel lines. Petrol vapour is more combustible than enclosed petrol.
Carpets, headlining material & the insulation on the wiring loom are other things which can catch alight if you don't take enough care, move / remove / cover as needed. 

Sorry to sound like the Prophet of Doom but it's better to be prepared than to be mournful.