Clean for welding, brake cleaner is fine, but not chlorinated brake cleaner, I repeat DO NOT USE CHLORINATED BRAKE CLEANER TO CLEAN THINGS YOU WILL BE WELDING ON, the chlorinated stuff decomposes to phosgene gas in the electrical arc and it only takes a tiny amount (like less than a drop of cleaner) to permanently berkeley you up (or even kill).
dean1484 wrote: If the sheet metal is coated, painted or galvanized make sure you either clean it well or have respiratory protection. It also is important NOT to use brake cleaner or any other cleaner that has CFCs in it on metal you will then be welding. Very bad for you at best and death is a possible outcome of not being careful of CFCs.
Re cleaning: Acetone and dedicated stainless brushes for each metal type.
Phosgene gas 
Duly noted
In reply to Rufledt:
I use a local steel supply/fabrication house. Much cheaper than stuff like online metals. After all the visits, they know me. Usually don't charge anything to grab a few bits out of their scrap pile. Latest was a dozen 1/8th inch 6x6 plates. Saved a ton of time on a cage.
In reply to Kreb: you are absolutely correct Some of the early Maserati race car bodies were made from Cinzano signs and hammered out over stumps.. No doubt more than a few Indy cars from that era as well. My first bit's of formed aluminum were done with a dead-blow hammer and sandbag.. I eventually wound up making whole bodies with a small handful of tools and a little body filler.. Hey they were race cars and likely to be "adjusted" on the race track.
Scrap prices aren't horrible, I just returned from hauling in some old dock pieces ( little over 600 pounds) yielded me $54
Ok here's another different question, what kind of 'shop' do you recommend? By this i don't mean what size garage, but lets say someone was trying to set up a garage to work on cars and was right now in the process of building shelves and work benches and stuff, what kind of area should i make? is a standard small work bench with a vice going to do? Again, the primary idea is small things and patch panels, maybe a little custom stuff, not full racecar bodies. I assume hammer and dollies don't require a giant area, and i'm probably going to pass on a giant, expensive english wheel, I just want to optimize what i can do with a minimum of tools and permanent filled space.
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