sellmanb

I have no idea where to put this, so mods feel free to delete, or move, or lock or whatever.... but this was the closest place for me to put it.

So I've got 300 dollars to spend for christmas, that I want to get an air compressor with so I can paint my car later... and air tools in the mean time.

What characteristics in air compressors would I be looking for, with painting a car in mind (to keep it sorta on topic to this forum)

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...id=00916871000

would that be a good one? I'm assuming more gallons is better, and more HP refills it quicker... right?

okfoz

I would not see why that would not work.

For a good paintjob, remember that you might want the following.

A good Gun, I personally like the 1/2 Gal jobs that has seperate tanks... Some folks like the gravity feed ones because they do not have as much oversrpay tho.

http://www.harbourfreight.com/ has a nice (But inexpensive) one they are about $79.00

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...324&pricetype=

Before someone sais something about potential quality on these, I have some DeViliss guns and some of these from Harbour Freight, and the pieces are all interchangable... I think the cheepies work better too...

I would recommend some sort of dryer, for the compressed air, so you do not get moisture in the paint as it sprays.

you will also need a regulator...

Good luck

John

sellmanb

which type of gun may be the most "forgiving" for a first timer? I was expecting to have to buy one of those expensive paint guns for the base/clear coats, and then a cheapy for the primer... but I'm one that will get the cheaper of something if the 300 dollar said item is 5% better than the 200 dollar said item.

Thanks for the link, it will be very useful . I've read through JeffW's Ressurection threads religiously and I think I understand the "how to paint" bit... as much as I can without any hands-on action atleast... it's just pieceing things together to make them work.. figured I'd consult the experts.

JeffW

i got that exact compressor.... not the best for painting runs outta huff and puff in a hurry. worked ok for the air wrench and die grinder, but painting was a no go. i added another husky 30 gal 5 hp oiled compressor in series with it and that gave me al the air i could ever need. the oil less type compressor you have there is noisy as all end will drive you nuts in a garage.

for 300 what i would do is call your local compressor shop and ask for a good used compressor at 208 volts 2 stage with good size tank like 50 gal. that way it is quiter has all the air you would ever need and you could get a good unit for the same money.
this is my next purchase.

the sears compresor will not paint an entire car and does run hot so it creates alot of moisture.

from experiance
jeff

JeffW

oh and paint gun....hvlp only way to go forget the gravity tank ones they waste paint and lots of it.

get a devilbiss finishline 3 gun.($120-$150) i have 2 and they worked great i used them for every step primer and all, nothing like a good cleaning between steps to get the job done. price is good too and parts are always avalible its a good name brand but not the most expensive like sata which would be one of the best guns on the market.

for the amount of labor and costs of paints and materials i would not cheap on a gun that is what is going to make or break the job other than prep that is.

i'd buy harbor freight for painting my tractor or for por 15 where i can toss the gun if it gets messed up. but not for a giant one time job like my car. you could buy the best sata and get almost 100% on return off ebay when your done.

jeff

sellmanb

. I will look into this. I'll probably be right back here when it comes time to buy the paint gun, but for now it's just the compressor. I'll go to the yellow pages and see if I can find any compressor shops with a compressor in those specs. Thanks again

sellmanb

I'm thinking about it though, how hard was it for you with that air compressor? Could you do one panel before you had to let it recharge? I plan to take off each panel, take out dents or whatever, and spray it off the car, then put it back on at the end.

KEVIN G.

Sellmanb,
DEFINITELY look into a 2 stage compressor, especially if you're gonna shoot the whole car...
The last thing you need is to be spraying that last couple coats of clear on a nice warm day and lose all your pressure... or worse, gradually lose it and not even know it... Your paint depends on staying wet...It cannot do that if you gotta stop and wait.
Some of those cheappies even have a hard time keeping up with a d.a.
As Jeff mentioned... you also will be dealing with moisture.
Water and paint do not mix...
that's not always a good plan... What color are you goin' with??

JeffW

well you could get away with panel painting unless... (as kevin has taught me) it is metalic. pearl or candy. those tend to mis match when you panel paint. if you doing a solid color no metalic or pearl than you could get away with it. oh and panle paint tends to run the risk of scratches during re-assembly.

try your local compressor companies first before going this route. if your stuck with a single stage compressor i may have another work around, its just way harder and expensive in the long run.

jeff

sellmanb

Thanks for the heads-up about panel painting. I guess I'm confused by what you mean by "metallic" if you mean metallic flake, then no... I dont like that look very much.. I plan to do a deep blue, I believe the name of it is metallic medium blue.... the one used on 4th gens.

So a two stage compressor is what I'm looking at... what would be the absolute minimum HP / gallon that I can get away with? If I can find that for less than 300 from a compressor rebuild shop then I'll have money to play with for getting my car back on the road lol.

JeffW

see what is avalible and post up the specs on them you will want to know the cfm rating hp rating volts and tanks size in gallons.

cfm is what matters for painting. 13+ is great 11 would be close but would get you there. all paint guns have the spec is cfm min required.

jeff

John Millican

iTrader: (1)

The 2 stage compressor (175psi) is absolutely the best and will last nearly a lifetime but be prepared to pay. The CHEAPEST you will find a new 2 stage is about $850 and the price goes up from there. Be sure to check the power requirements. They will be 220V and either a single phase or 3 phase. A typical home only has single phase. You will most likely need a 30 amp 220V service or more. As far as tank size goes you will be looking at a 60 gallon at a minimum unless you build your own compressor.

I did allot of research on 2 stage compressors and finally settled on one from Grainger. Best value for the money. I paid $899 plus tax for mine, no shipping because I have a Grainger outlet here in town. It's a good thing because shipping weight is 360 pounds!

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/pro...541184&ccitem=

John Millican

iTrader: (1)

Here's an excellent air compressor buying guide.

http://www.kmstools.com/pages/compressguide/

AJT86

i painted my 92 RS when i was 17- i used a 35 gallon craftsman compressor- i did one step paint-just to get it all one solid color it looked great for what the paint was it was nice and shiny- and the compressor worked great just take your time with it. Now we have upgraded to an 80 gallon- the cars getting sanded down this winter for some black paint with red heritage stripes:lala:

John Millican

iTrader: (1)

CFM is way more important then gallons.

Morley

Look at the CFM rating on the compressor, you want more CFM than the highest demand tool you plan on using. And if you plan on using an HVLP gun, go 3-5 CFM higher than the gun consumes.
to the one that said that sears compressor wouldn't even run a D/A (sander)...ALL D/A sanders have a very high CFM requirement, even if it says just 5 CFM, they are speaking in half truths, fre running, no load may be 5 CFM, but when actually sanding (under a load) it will be more like 12 CFM. D/A sanders are air hogs.
A 2 stage compressor would be best because it can pump more air and fill the tank faster.
Chck out the 220V 60 gallon compressors at Home Depot (Husky), they have a good price/warranty, and you can just go pick it up yourself.

sellmanb

Thanks for filling me in on this, and sharing past experiences... I am learning a lot about the air compressors. I dont want to buy one and find out later that i have to buy another one in order to do what i planned with it. You guys are great, thank you