Painting a car

[69volunteer 84]

Those of you that have done this in your garage or driveway, what equipment did you use? Particularly compressor size/cfm. I am looking to paint a small british car some time next year and only have a small 6 gallon dual tank compressor. All of the paint & body forums I am on recommend a 60 gallon or more with at least 14cfm @ 40 psi.

 

Thoughts?

[69RavenConv 286]

I think you'll find that compressor is way too small. I am NOT a painter, although I did paint my car. I used a Craftsman 33 gallon compressor and painted each panel separately. Each fender, door, quarter, hood and deck lid were separate efforts. The 33 gallon was barely enough for each panel, it would have never worked for an entire car. I'm sure real painters will chime in but I think, at a minimum, you need a bigger compressor. Oh, BTW, I used Divelbiss and Harbor Freight HVLP guns.

[magician 13]

That isn't big enough. The 60 should be. Filters and dryers are mandatory also. The gun you choose will tell how much air you need.

[1969_Mach1 333]

I bought a Devilbiss HVLP gun several years ago to respray a couple of panels and the paint gun specs you have are inline with everything I saw.  Get at least a 60 gallon compressor with the cfm requirements for the paint gun.  I'm not a painter by any means.  I painted a few cars in my parents garage when I was younger.  Buy the best gun in your budget or you will also be fighting poor, uneven, or narrow spray patterns.  You will need other items as well, but get a good filter drier for the air line.  With inexpensive driers the paint gun will sometimes spit some water. 

[Raven R code 281]

I have an Eastwood HVLP gun that runs on a small home compressor. I have used it to spray epoxy primer and have the tips to do paint. I would check that out.

[po51 21]

What small British car are you going to paint?

[69volunteer 84]

I re-read my post and it sounded like I was planning to try with the 6 gallon. I know that is way too small.

 

I have been researching 60 gallon compressors and the prices and reviews are all over the place. I don't plan to do this as a full time job but if the first one turns out ok, then there are a couple of other projects I may take on. My point is I don't want to drop $1k on a top of the line compressor if a Kobalt or Husky will do the job.

 

I have checked out the eastwood gun and its an option--probably use a HF gun to shoot the primer. But some people hate eastwood and some love it. I am also looking at the devilbiss flg4.

 

I have a 73 GT6 that I am turning into a vintage racer. This is the group44 car which is an earlier model.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3584/3358762346_015ccdeb7a.jpg?v=0

[det0326 179]

If you are planning on base/clear coat you will need a quality gun with wide fan pattern for clear the cheaper ones will not work good. My set up is 5HP 80 gallon @ 21 cfm ,   Iwata 400 gun and of course as others said lots of filters and dryer.

 

Dave  

[Ridge Runner 1,113]

A 60 gallon tank at least ,anything less will constantly run and probably not keep up . I bought the biggest one Lowes had and it is a pretty decent compressor .If you are looking at it money wise just remember it will run your tools a lot better having a good compressor as well and wont burn up .

Your local paint supplier will probably have a combo pack of HVLP paint guns for between 100 -150 ,that is a gun  for paint ,one for primer and a touch up gun . A good dryer is also needed or you could ruin a paint job with moisture from the compressor and air lines .

And also and most important ,get a good respirator .