tack weld stainless exhaust with cheap mig

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Hey all, first time poster.I am preparing to go home for the summer and I need to get an exhaust done on my race car projectI already have neccessary tubing, collector and muffler for a stainless exhaust. Im not trying to build a set of headers, just from the headers back. I already have a cheap harbor freight MIG/Flux welder. I have been wanting to buy a gas cylinder for it for awhile to do little projects like welding cable brackets. I used to work in a shop and have some experience welding mild steel.It will be much more expensive for me to pay to have the car moved to a shop and then pay for a custom exhaust fabrication than to do THIS:cut/size/tack the exhaust together with my welder in my garage and a can of tri-mix + stainless wire, take it to friend's shop and pay him to tig it all the way around.I am willing to invest in a small can of tri-mix gas/regulator and the stainless wire to tack the exhaust together(about $150-200 per a quote from a bay area welding supply), then I can refill the can with mild steel gas and carry-on. this is my welder:http://www.harborfreight.com/welding...der-61888.htmlI know it isn't ideal to do it this way, but they are just tacks, and I will save alot of money, and have bought some stuff I can use later on down the line.I am asking if anyone with more expertise than me on here has any reason why I shouldn't be able to get away with this.Help is much appreciated. Thanks!Mitch
Reply:Why not just buy a 2 lb. roll of stainless flux cored wire. 308L should be readily available.A couple of years ago my buddy's wife bought him a HF fluxcore mig. He wanted to use solid wire and gas. It would weld fine with fluxcore but would not weld at all with solid and gas. http://www.bakersgas.com/CRO-SS308L1...69KxoCZkDw_wcBWeld like a "WELDOR", not a wel-"DERR" MillerDynasty700DX,Dynasty350DX4ea,Dynasty200DX,Li  ncolnSW200-2ea.,MillerMatic350P,MillerMatic200w/spoolgun,MKCobraMig260,Lincoln SP-170T,PlasmaCam/Hypertherm1250,HFProTig2ea,MigMax1ea.
Reply:Keep it simple and cheap.Buy your self a small bottle of plain C-25 and tack or fully weld it yourself using plain solid core er70s wire. It will work well and hold just fine. Yeah, the welds will rust a little, but they will hold for years. You can always squirt them with quality aluminum type paint to delay rusting for a long time.You need a gas bottle anyway because your welder begs for it.I do it all the time and it works very well....and yeah I have the equipment necessary to tig or mig stainless properly, but seldom use it for stuff like that.
Reply:Originally Posted by shovelonWhy not just buy a 2 lb. roll of stainless flux cored wire. 308L should be readily available.A couple of years ago my buddy's wife bought him a HF fluxcore mig. He wanted to use solid wire and gas. It would weld fine with fluxcore but would not weld at all with solid and gas. http://www.bakersgas.com/CRO-SS308L1...69KxoCZkDw_wcB
Reply:Thanks for the really fast responses. This is one of the good forums apparently. it looks like the two new ideas are buying a basic mild steel setup and forsaking the trimix altogether, or just buying stainless flux wire.I wouldn't feel comfortable fully welding the exhaust with flux anything, so if I did the flux wire I would just tack it and still pay for the tig job.two good alternatives, thanks for the info!
Reply:if you buy one of those spools post the results here if you get the chance! Mitch Originally Posted by wornoutoldwelderThanks for the info on flux core stainless. I never thought to look if there was such a thing. I'll get a spool for my spool gun and try it. Sure beat the hell out of trimix gas if it works well.
Reply:You may be over thinking this, just mig tack it with regular mild steel wire. Take the exhaust to your friend, have him grind off the mild steel tacks and then tig with stainless. This is the way I do it and many others.Millermatic 211Miller Syncrowave 350lx with cooler and tigrunner Thermal Dynamics cutmaster 811955 National Cylinder Gas O/A setup with original patina
Reply:Fluxcore and TIG don't play nice together....After tacking your friend will have to tack it in other places and remove ALL the fluxcore tacks.Trying to run over fluxcore tacks with TIG just makes a mess out of your tungsten and project. ...zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.