# Air compressor to paint cars



## Mikey18 (Aug 23, 2012)

Anybody recommend a air compressor for the garage. it will be used for spray painting parts and cars, also for windi guns and general mechanics. 
no price limit really. willing to pay up to around 700 pounds. 
for restorations projects. 

cheers Mike


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## VenomUK (Oct 13, 2011)

Can't recommend anything but interested to see what's out there. With a budget of £700 you should find something more that capable to do the job.


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## Opulent (Jan 25, 2012)

my dad does smart repairs for a living and he uses Clarke Shhh Air 7/100. put a link to one on machine mart website  
its odd thats hardly makes a noise unlike a normal compressors, makes it a lot nicer to use when spraying because you dont have the horrible loud noise


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## steelej (Jan 3, 2007)

6.5cfm displacement is really only good enough for touch up guns, you're really looking for at least 3hp and 14cfm displacement which will give around 10cfm free air delivered. You'll need to look at the requirements of the gun and go from there.

John.


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

steelej said:


> You'll need to look at the requirements of the gun *and air fed mask* and go from there.
> 
> John.


Fixed that for you :thumb:


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## Shug (Jul 13, 2007)

I used a 35cfm compressor when I painted my car. Bit over the top perhaps, but get the biggest your budget will stretch to. You can never have too much cfm


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## Mikey18 (Aug 23, 2012)

I'm using a devilbiss spray gun. Will have to check the requirements. Cheers for the input already guys


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## moosh (May 8, 2011)

Mikey18 said:


> I'm using a devilbiss spray gun. Will have to check the requirements. Cheers for the input already guys


Hi mikey are you a painter to trade?


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## andyrst (Apr 6, 2009)

ABAC are top end compressors


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## liam99 (Dec 29, 2009)

Another thing to think about is power supply.


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## Mikey18 (Aug 23, 2012)

moosh said:


> Hi mikey are you a painter to trade?


Hi mate.

no im not a painter by trade. I have a workshop garage that is used as a hobby, building and restoring cars. the compressor will be used for both paint and mechanical jobs. some of the paint jobs will be special paints such as candy though and i want to have a good amount of reliability and compression. i have a maccess account so was going to see what they had to offer.


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## Mikey18 (Aug 23, 2012)

liam99 said:


> Another thing to think about is power supply.


looking for around 240v. we dont operate on three phase


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## Mikey18 (Aug 23, 2012)

just seen this one on ebay. what you think of it ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ABAC-REDL...Air_Tools_and_Compressors&hash=item4606f2e410


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## moosh (May 8, 2011)

Mikey18 said:


> Hi mate.
> 
> no im not a painter by trade. I have a workshop garage that is used as a hobby, building and restoring cars. the compressor will be used for both paint and mechanical jobs. some of the paint jobs will be special paints such as candy though and i want to have a good amount of reliability and compression. i have a maccess account so was going to see what they had to offer.


Ok cool mate, was trying to gather a back round to what you've done before and what your planning so I don't waste anyone's time by trying to teach you how to suck eggs 

You ideally want a min 250L 3hp compressor, belt driven and one with a low db rating, some are deafening when running in a workshop! I have a sealy compressor and its been a great bit of kit that I got for around the 600 mark but it had been reduced.

You want to look into filtering the paint fumes to mate to protect your health and the neighbours or other units.

How are you proposing to dry the paints both waterbased and solvent based?


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## Mikey18 (Aug 23, 2012)

moosh said:


> Ok cool mate, was trying to gather a back round to what you've done before and what your planning so I don't waste anyone's time by trying to teach you how to suck eggs
> 
> You ideally want a min 250L 3hp compressor, belt driven and one with a low db rating, some are deafening when running in a workshop! I have a sealy compressor and its been a great bit of kit that I got for around the 600 mark but it had been reduced.
> 
> ...


cheers moosh. really appreciate it. thats another bridge i was going to cross when i came to it. you see ive got an old mgb that im doing up, and it has come to the point of painting it. the paint choice is going to be candy apple red. we have just moved garages and while the workshop is getting rebuilt back up, i thought now would be a good time to renew the air compressor, and get everything set up. what heating would you recommend to try the paint? i have plenty of halogen heaters that have worked in the past. im just scared this time with it being a special paint.
the new garage has 3 sections and are all dry and warm.

cheers


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## Shug (Jul 13, 2007)

Infrared heaters are best for paint, but they dont come cheap.


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## liam99 (Dec 29, 2009)

I have a sealey 150l 3hp, Been alright not done much painting with it use it mainly for air tools. ABAC seem to get good feedback.


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## Mikey18 (Aug 23, 2012)

liam99 said:


> I have a sealey 150l 3hp, Been alright not done much painting with it use it mainly for air tools. ABAC seem to get good feedback.


Thanks for the input Liam. I think I'm swaying towards abac


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## bobsabuilder (Dec 25, 2011)

When I was in the motor trade I had one of these:
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/se15c150-wis-air-compressor
Wire it up properly to a 16amp supply and use a good set of filters and water traps for spraying. 
Never let me down.


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## Liamc (Oct 25, 2012)

To do it properly is very expensive, you'd have to be planing on doing a fair bit of painting or be a very determind DIYer.

I have a home setup which is a pair of 150 litre tanks, each with a 3hp motor.
Plumbed into a 30 feet run of 15mm copper pipe to allow the air to cool. Then filters and water/oil seperators to get to breathable quality air.

If you havent seen it already, take a look at this site, I follow its advice and done a fair bit of spraying without running out of air pressure or having water problems:
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/air-system.htm


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## Liamc (Oct 25, 2012)

This is gun finish from a Sealy S701G HVLP spray guy, which can be had on ebay for about £25.

The photo isn't great quality from my old phone, but you can see the clarity of reflections.
This is the best of several car parts which I painted last summer. You need a huge amount of practice to get consistently good results.


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