1st time welder

there are 4 basic choices and the other guys have it right.

Flux core welders like you'ld see at Harbor Freight are not really worth the money, but they do weld.

Stick welders are good welders for welding out in the field with a generator, and for welding on crappy metal (rusty). But stick requires a lot of cleaning and its not really great for thinner metal unless you are good at it.

MIG with Argon or an Argon mix is the best for welding car stuff together, specifically body panels. its not to hard to learn. a fairly clean process, but there is some splatter. You can only weld materials that you cna get wire for, so its a bit limited from that respect, but steel and Aluminum are all you really need. A good machine is not going to be cheap, but its a great investment. start shopping for one of the three good ones Lincoln (red), Miller (blue) and Hobart. Then start watching craigslist or your local classifieds for a good used machine. there are gplenty of people that buy a machine for one project and then sell it. good deals if you watch for a while. Go see if you can take welding class at the local vocational school. take the gas welding class first, and maybe a stick class if you have too, they teach good lessons too, then move up to MIG.

TIG, the cleanest of the welding processes makes some awesome welds, but the equipment is expensive. Great for welding things together on a bench, but not so good for inverted welding as I recently found out. Can weld all sorts of metals together