Well, what is a MIG welder but a high-amperage DC power supply?

Looking through MIG charts, most of them suggest that mild steel in common automotive thicknesses be cleaved using voltages in the 20-25 VDC range. Two car batteries, in series, are a very handy supply of 24 VDC at many, many amps.

Run two small batteries with a switching arrangement. Throw the switch one way, and they're in parallel across the alternator for charging and normal usage. Throw the switch the other way, and they're disconnected from the car and placed in series across the welding electrode.

You wouldn't have much in the way of amperage control, but then most cheap MIG welders don't either. Maybe score some used braking resistors off a decommissioned subway car / locomotive, or build your own by scavenging from an electric furnace.

 

What you're describing is what scores of 4x4 guys have been doing for decades when someone in a group breaks a control arm or something in the middle nowhere. Definitely works in a pinch with some sacrificial metal rods of some sort to stick weld with.

 

Yep, stick welding with jumper cables is a time honored 4x4 tradition.

 

Got to love the dude watching, wide eyed and bushy tailed. Don't worry, he has probably procreated already. So when he is blind and needs free medical, his kids can continue his legacy of poor decisions.

 

I like it. Self contained and portable MiG welding system, disguised as a lifted Miata.

Another random thought, for every 100 pos cats we should get a unicorn. Or maybe not.

 

Or a unicorn cat!

 

Be careful what you ask for. I can make avatar-sized version of this all day long:

 

I.

am not afraid

 

I also want unicorns in exchange for cats.

 

Are the engine issues with NC1's overblown (heh) or a legitimate problem? This just popped up on my local CL and I'm sorely tempted as it's about $1800 less than the cheapest NC I've seen except for salvage titles. High mileage though.

2006 Mazda Miata

 

Holy **** that's cheap.

 

Disgruntled spouse making a divorce sale?

 

You don't want an NC.

 

Quoted for veracity.

 

For a DD the NC is a much nicer place to spend time than an NA/NB.

Mine was also a GT so it had the BOSE and leather 6spd, LSD, etc.

 

I haven't driven one, but I don't know who to believe on this. I know it's not an NA/NB, but it's also faster and more comfortable and still not nearly as huge/heavy as something like an S2K or BRZ.

 

For 4k how bad can it be? Honestly once it has hit that sort of mileage and is still running strong. I would think that the motor is probably pretty good and you probably won't have any issues with it. Drive it for a few years then dump it for what you bought it for.

 

I'm not really in the market actually, so it's fair game for anyone in the area. I haven't sold the NA yet and and I just dropped $1400 on a hearing aid last Friday, so the wallet's hurting a bit.

 

The guy who has owned and tracked an NA, tracked an NB, DD'd an NC, and currently DD's a BRZ.

In the spring I'm going to ditch the BRZ and look at either getting an ND or a Focus RS. Yes, I realize these two cars are diametrically opposed to each other.

I miss having a convertible, but something that is fast with useable space seems like a good idea too.

Or I may go stupid and buy an E92 M3 with the DCT.

 

This sounds precisely like something Jeremy Clarkson would say while in the process of purchasing a £4k Lamborghini for a Top Gear challenge.