need help choosing a mig Welder to work on a race car and a truck?

im looking for a mig Welder.more towards a lincoln.which size would be the best to get to fix a race car and work on a truck body i dont want to spend a ton of money on the biggest Welder.and i dont want to buy to small of a welder.would a 140 be good enough.

Generally, I would stay away from 110V Welders unless you do very thin stuff all the time or want a machine that you can use around the house to supplement a larger welder. The penetration and duty cycle are just not there for larger projects. Personally, I do own a Lincoln 100HD, but I also own a Lincoln Precession TIG with the water cool package and a Miller Millermatic 185 that I got a smoking deal on. From my experience as a professional welder and as a hobbyist, you need to move up to a bigger machine, and this is coming from someone who mostly did 16 gauge box tube.

If you must go Lincoln then the 180T will suit you better because it is a 220V model with a slightly higher duty cycle (30%@130A) and welds up to 3/16 steel. You probably will not see much of that, but it will only frustrate you if you do come across it. A cheaper option that has been getting many raves in the professional Welding community is the Hobart 187 which is a few hundred less and said to maintain a better arc. I have not tested it yet, but many people with decades of experience love it.

If you are planning to start Welding roll cages out of steel or aluminum, I would use TIG. The cold starts that are characteristic of MIG Welding have the potential to be deadly when you are welding something as important as a roll cage. They are expensive (mine retails for $3800 new), but they are less likely to produce a fatal flaw or defect in a weld. MIG is too easy to make look good while lacking penetration.

Basically, I would just bite the bullet and upgrade to a 220V wire feed welder if you want to be truly happy with your purchase considering what you want to do. For aluminum or very sensitive and important components that could save your life, I would borrow a TIG machine or tack with a MIG and let someone else hard weld it with a TIG machine. It might be considered overkill, but it is guaranteed in the long run.

Buying Your First Mig welder