TKS Tankette

wow looks real nice!. I'd get some frame epoxy from the auto parts store and coat all that bare metal. it will stop it from rusting down the road.

Coming out really cool.

Are you doing all the welding ?

I have also have a mig welder. But im horrible. My welds suck.I also use gas.

Thanks for the tips. I really appreciate it.   

I've been welding for 2.5 years now, mainly steel with either stick or MIG, mainly MIG. Lately I've been learning aluminum MIG welding at my new job and I'm getting the hang of it pretty quick. As far as your difficulties with welding; wire speed, voltage (temperature) and travel speed all definitely make the weld travel speed though will make the voltage null in void though once you really know what you're looking for. Wire speed is probably the most important I think. If you're burning at a high voltage your want a higher wire speed and the lower the voltage the slower the wire speed. Your travel speed will vary according to those. Those pits you got in your weld were most likely due to a lack of gas. With no gas to shield the weld from oxygen the weld pretty much ends up aerating itself. The other cause might have been due to contaminates on the metal itself, dirt, rust, oil... on steel that's not so much of a problem but on aluminum it most definitely is a problem. As far as your gas options argon is the only gas for aluminum welding, it's something like 90% argon and 10% CO2. Steel though I've used many different types of gas CO2/Argon, CO2/Argon/Helium, straight CO2. the CO2/Argon/Helium combo was the best I ever used but I've never had to pay for gas, all my MIG welding has only ever been done at work. Stick welding is a pain in the ass but if you can get it down it's great for structural work. Totally different method of welding though. Another tip that might help, when welding with MIG, you want to push your weld, in other words, point the nozzle in the direction that you want to weld, keep it at about a 45^o angle, and about 1/4" away from the piece you are welding. As you're moving along go in a slight back and forth motion this will let you get that  
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looking weld (the slash mark and x are the wire and point of welding, the arrow is the direction of the weld) Always look at the puddle or molten part of the weld not the point of where the wire makes contact with the metal. I try to stay in front of my welds and look just past the point of contact you'll see if the puddle starts to widen out meaning it's getting too hot or stay really narrow meaning it's too cold. an average weld width is like a 1/4" wide. Hope that helps don't think too much about it you gotta learn how to feel, listen and watch your welds, you'll know when it's working right. Any questions just ask send me a PM or ask here doesn't matter.