Bought a small MIG Welder.

[Greenpeace]

It is my guess/experience that gasless MIG has come on a little since the 90's - worth giving it a go?

Oh that definately seems the case.
The standard of welds you've already posted were totally unachievable with the one my father had.

 

[PeterT]

Interestingly, on this AF forum, the only discussions were around 2005, so I guess things have changed since then.

There's a quite a bit of discussion in this recent thread:

Rivets v Welding v Epoxy

I think even the bunnings setup would be okay these days. A refundable 200 dollar deposit, then no rental costs: Argon as an example: https://www.bunnings.com.au/coregas-trade-n-go-gas-size-d-argon-gas_p5910384 "Never pay rent again. Purchase Argon gas including a cylinder deposit and when...

www.aussiefrogs.com