Welcome Jeff...good luck to you on your learning. Read a lot, keep up with the car shows, and keep asking questions and hanging around with car people, thats the best way to learn. And doing the projects yourself as well, even if you mess up sometimes, which you will!!! I would get a Mig welder as my first one, with the gas hook-up, not just a wire feed welder. And as has been suggested, be wary of used ones, if you get a used welder, maybe look for one at a dealer. They sometimes take them in on trade, so they would be refurbished first.

As far as a compressor, make sure the CFM rating is high enough. That's the air flow, or volume. Pressure is not as important as CFM. If you are going to use air tools, especially DA sanders and grinders, they go thru a lot of air. You dont want the compressor running constantly, or even worse, having to wait for it while it builds up pressure. And if you are going to paint, you'll probably use a HVLP type of gun (high volume, low pressure) They need around 10 CFM of flow to work properly, so again, go bigger when you first buy one. You have a lot ahead of you, go easy and have fun. And best of luck with the family. John