My hacked up dash, should I attempt to weld?

[Isaiah92260]

I never welded before. Been reading online how-to's beginners welding, thinking about buying a shrilled mig welder from harbor freight, of course I'm gonna do a lot of practice first, but does anyone have any advice I should know about self welding a replacment section? How do I accurately measure that area that I need to cut and weld, Should I weld on a the whole panel or just the pieces depending on the damage? If not I also was thinking about finding a shop near me that I can pay, but I want to learn how to weld anyways so I might do it myself. I mostly likely will buy a replacement panel for 60-63 from brothers or whoever Sells it cheaper, Thanks in advance everyone.