Now for your questions. Although there is nothing wrong with a stich (SMAW) weld, much of this country has been welded together with them. There are now better technology that can be taken advantage of, especially if you want to get deeper into the automotive arena. SMAW really doesn't have much of a presence in the automotove field any more.
That said, what you are doing seems like it is working, however, if you really want to have your capabilities multiply and skills explode then I strongly suggest a good MIG (GMAW) welder. I also suggest a 220 volt machine vs. the smaller 110 vac machines as they have a much better capacity and just as importantly, a much higher duty cycle.
Miller and Lincoln are both fine machines and there are also others. Personally I bleed blue so it is nothing but Miller for me but that is merely my opinion. I have welded with a few of the Lincoln Power Migs and they are excellent machines as well. As much as I hate to admit it, I probably got a little better looking welds out of the Lincoln but I am sure it was an illusion.
As far as plasma cutters go, I would steer clear of Miller. We have a Miller Spectrum 2050 at work and it sucks. It goes through consumables at an alarming rate and I am not impressed with the quality in which it performs its fuctions.
Hypertherm and Thermal Dynamics are both great little plasma cutters, but in my opinion the ESAB PCM series is the one. Personally I have the ESAB PCM-875 at my home shop and it works fantastic. It has performed flawlessly over the past ten years I have owned it and never let me down. The consumable are not as expensive as the Miller and they last quite a long time.
Hope this information helps.
Mike.
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