tig welding custom chassis???

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Hi to all. absolutely new to the site. haven't got a chance to check out the posts and i have questions.in two words i have no tig welding experience what so ever and i am building a 2000 pd. car with 400 hp. have very little mig experience ( i turned out to be a good tack welder)... no more than one hour of actual time mig welding i think. I took a chance and designed a hitch that i welded together and bolted to my fathers truck. the welder from the race car shop was really good 1500-2000$. ended up pulling u-haul trailer with porsche boxster on top of it possibly 6-7 k pd.  from PA to Ohio.the first 2 hours I was very nervous. I would be very grateful if i can ask for advice on a few things. I have chosen to get a lotus ct520d     tig\plasma with stick aluminum welding option .are there better options for 700-800$? is that thing gona do the job??? no way i can spend 3-4 k for tig and plasma at that point.http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...=STRK:MEWAX:ITI am taking 40 hours tig welding class for sure no way around it.so the other question if someone can give me some advise how does the chassis looks structurally? the main  bottom tubing would be 1.5x1 standard wall thickness and the rest 1x1 with some exceptions 3x1 driver side protection. most of the joints will be braced with 1/4 plates for extra strength and insurance. and on the outside everything will be wrapped with .50 or .63 gage aluminum riveted about 1.5 -2 inches apart.Any advice or criticism would be greatly appreciated.  the link below is the album with the 3d chassis and the rest of my unfinished projects. http://s1125.photobucket.com/albums/l599/joromanolov/thank you for your help George
Reply:yikes!  make sure your insurance policy is up to date... especially the liability coverage.  Having your name on something going down the road like that carries a lot of risk.   Those cars in the album look awesome though!  I would suggest getting some professional welding help on that project and saving the money on the lotus welder.Last edited by LMSyrus; 02-22-2011 at 07:25 PM.Weld well; grind less.
Reply:if it were me i would use chome-moly round tube in 1.75  for the 1.50 and 1.25 or 1.50 for the 1 x 1,  the 1x1 seams a bit small. and don't listen to that guy, take the welding class, listen and pay attention, and practice alot and there is no reason what so ever not to weld on a car that is going down the road. all them pros out there had to start somewhere!
Reply:In my honest opinion, you are no where near ready to take on this project. 40 hours is enough to teach you the basics, not get you out in the garage welding something that your life is going to be dependent on. Take the class, and then take on some smaller projects until you are good enough to take on something like this. If you are not experienced with fit up, find some projects involving tube so you can work on that. A good fit is crucial and will make your weld a lot easier, and nicer.Thermal Arc 210Thermal Arc 95SLincoln Weld Pak 100
Reply:Originally Posted by beags86if it were me i would use chome-moly round tube in 1.75  for the 1.50 and 1.25 or 1.50 for the 1 x 1,  the 1x1 seams a bit small. and don't listen to that guy, take the welding class, listen and pay attention, and practice alot and there is no reason what so ever not to weld on a car that is going down the road. all them pros out there had to start somewhere!
Reply:Originally Posted by steve_o1989In my honest opinion, you are no where near ready to take on this project. 40 hours is enough to teach you the basics, not get you out in the garage welding something that your life is going to be dependent on. Take the class, and then take on some smaller projects until you are good enough to take on something like this. If you are not experienced with fit up, find some projects involving tube so you can work on that. A good fit is crucial and will make your weld a lot easier, and nicer.
Reply:wow thank you very much that  really helps. I am unexperienced with so many things but i do try to consider matter properly at my best.  it is all about mechanical link of the tubing and even if it takes 10 times longer the tubing will fit good. I kind of rely on  (pipemaster) to get it right with the crazy angles and diagonals... there will be mistakes and corrections no doubt. another thing I must do to have peace of mind would be to have trusted professional welder to weld the tacked tabs and braces for the corvette c6 suspension and coilover shocks,  engine and transaxle mounts.  the idea was to have everything fitted and tacked and then have it welded by a professional but then i figured if i have to run and spend $ on every weld i need in the future i may as well jut learn to do it my self...and before i even consider to do the final welding on the chassis three mus be a huge pile of welded scrap behind my back... I am not risking my life or others. If it doesn't look good or if it doesn't feel right i will be at plan A. There is a thread that i came across in this site that really got me thinking about safety and then you good people confirmed it... this kind of stuff is no joke. the bell is definitely ringing.http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=20875so in that thread a guy says that the chrome molly is not a good idea it is strong and lighter but there is extra stuff that goes to it. so i am actually leaning towards cold pressed  possibly seamless mild steel.TubularFab  WeldingWeb Tradesman"Actually, I would think doing it over with 4130 would be the least safest thing to suggest. The whole issue of post heat treating / heat affected zone embrittlement, etc would be far more complicated. If the chassis is mild steel then it's going to be the most forgiving because at least it should be fairly ductile."but i do take the advise that the 1x1 is kind of small. that's what i was afraid of. The whole idea is that the roadster is supposed to be as light as possible  to have a go with the zo6 engine i am suppose to get when i sell  the boxster engine. I know the round tubing is better choice but the square is easier to work with i might actually rethink the tubing size and the aluminum sheets will be also heavy. I got that fix idea that everything must be light...the body  will be some combination between mat carbon and kevlar ....vinyl ester resin..... but safety comes first.Thank you very much. your help makes a huge difference. more advise please!!! what might go wrong?