minimum compressor requirement

[johndl58]

Im just about ready to spray my '70 standard. It will single stage metallic dark green over an existing paint job of the same. My initial plan was to do it with a Harbor Freight turbine set up(44677 i believe), but now Im thinking maybe I should do it traditional. This will be my first attempt at painting a car and it sounds like the learning curve may be easier with the compressor/gun set up. Is a pancake compressor enough to do the job? I have one of those. If not, whats the smallest compressor I can get away with using? Obviously Im trying to keep this as cheap as possible. Thanks in advance for the suggestions.

John.

[scottmc]

I have the same gun. But I painted with rustloleum thin 50/50 with acetone. No a pancake will not do it. I have a 20 gallon 5.0 cfm worked great. Try it without paint and see if it keeps up when you run out of air it will spray a steady stream and not a mist so unless you want a shit load of runs I probably wouldn't try it

[johndl58]

That's what I thought. I'm really tempted to just get that machine and give it a go. For $120 I'll shoot a fender or 2 first to see how it goes.

[Northof49]

Paint guns use a lot of air. A true 2 hp (ie 240 volt machine) will work for intermittent use (like around 25 percent duty cycle), and you need a minimum of 5 true hp to paint near continuously. By true horsepower, I'm talking genuine 745 watts continuous per hp, not this peak hp BS that they put on tools nowadays. It's completely dishonest when they label a 120 v machine as 5 hp. When you look at the CFM ratings, you see if puts out air comparable to a 2 hp machine. You can't even run a real 2 hp motor off 120v unless you have a 20 or more amp breaker.
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1958 Karmann Ghia owner

[CiderGuy]

I bought a concours paint gun from Eastwood, it doesn't use a lot of air ...
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Cars Currently Owned:

1970 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1973 Karmann Ghia Coupe - Project car for sale
1970 Karmann Ghia Convertible (Body off restoration)

Timing is everything

[Doug C]

Do I have a chance of painting my car (using an HVLP gun) with my 21 gallon, 3hp compressor (Centra Pneumatic brand) that has a working pressure of 115psi and flows 3.5 scfm @ 90psi / 8.8 scfm @ 40psi ?

The HF HVLP gun lists 'air consumption' as 12 scfm @ 45psi. and has an air pressure range of 15-45psi.

Doug C

[Northof49]