Autobody/chassis oxy/fuel cutting and welding

[dh1989]

Hi all,

I've been doing a lot of reading about oxy/ace cutting and welding. I do occasional autobody repairs and have usually resorted to grinding out rust spots and riveting sheet metal in for repairs. I have a flux core welder but it doesn't seem to work very well for these repairs. Also, I recently acquired a parts car (my car was totaled in a crash) which I think an oxy/ace cutting setup would work very well for stripping down and chopping up.

So, here are a few questions I've come up with:

I see some welding/cutting kits on ebay (such as this: http://cgi.ebay.com/OXY-GAS-ACETYLEN...item1c165ed3da) around $100. They all say Victor or Harris STYLE, but are not the actual brand name (knockoffs I imagine). Are these anything worth while for what I want to do? I also notice that Harbor Freight sells similar welding kits (see here: http://www.harborfreight.com/oxygen-...kit-98958.html).

Once I have a kit, the next step would be tanks. I've read all about the horrors of buying craigslist tanks and finding out nobody will fill them because they're out of certification or marked by some company. So, what are my options if I wanted to buy tanks outright? Should I just rent tanks when I need them? If buying, what size tanks would be ideal, considering my use (occasional body work, some major chassis cutting work)? I would need something a manageable size/weight to transport for refilling.

Thanks.