Where in SoCal are you? The Fab School in Riverside has a couple great weekend classes to teach mig and tig on steel and aluminum. They are reasonably priced considering the amount of knowledge you walk away with. Its run by Troy Johnson and Dan Moore. These guys are legends in desert and short course off road racing and have designed and built cars and trucks for almost 30 yrs.
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and proclaiming, "WOW what a ride!!"
Power Tig 225 LX
Millermatic 252
JD2 Model 32
..and a couple of BIG HAMMERS