Hey all,

I just sold my Charger , (yeah it's not a mini, but it was a cool car) which is going to fund my resto for '05 . Am trying to put a bit of a budget together, but I have never prepped or painted a vehicle before. I am keen to give it a go, but I want to get peoples thoughts on size of compressor, specialist bits and pieces, etc. A couple of quick phone calls (Magnet Mart etc) have resulted in a couple of quotes.

Some of the quotes were;

2.5 HP, 40 LTR $240
2.5 HP, 50 LTR $525
3.0 HP, 50 LTR $625

Then I obviously need to spend extra $$ for hoses, guns etc, but I don't know exactly what I need. Any ideas fellas??

There seems to be a big price jump between a 40LTR and 50LTR capacity. Will it make a big difference to me for jobs such as sandblasting, prep, primer, final paint etc. Or will the 40LTR do just fine

JAM; I am especially interested in your thoughts as it sounds like you did a lot of research and learnt along the way. Did it become an all consuming marriage wrecking job, or did you find it OK??

Birthday is coming up, might drop a hint to the lil woman



Cheers all,

AUGO

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1969 Mini K - Marvin (long term restoration and headaches)

"Rust? What rust!?! This is a rust free shell........Goddammitt!!!!!!"

the bigger everything the better, more hp, means more pressure(good for sand blasting), more capacity, means better contstant pressure(good for spraying) I would probably go for the middle one. Sand blasting some people will say is not such a good thing, gets into everthing and can pit the metal, makes it harder to get a flat coat then. Bead blasting is what most people do nowadays. will cost roughly 600 to do a whole car. Never done either way so take my comments with a grain of salt. JAM painted his with a dinky die little compressor and it came up ok, but i am sure he would agree that the bigger the capacity the better.

Cheers

Aaron

I'm no expert sprayer but I use a 2.5hp 50L tank and cheapie brand compressor.

See the tail end of this thread (Steel for Patching) which got a little OT for more opinions.

http://www.tziworld.com/ausmini/viewtopic.php?t=3733

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Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

I think you need to know how much air it supplies in CFM or Cubic Feet per Minute, tne size of the tank means very little. All tools use a specified amount of air expressed in CFM. You need to know what tools you are going to use before buying the compressor so it can be big enough to supply the tools or spray equipment.

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Chris

Everything I like is either
illegal, immoral or fattening.

tank IS important the bigger the tank the bigger the reserve of air b4 you start losing pressure so the largest compressor and tank you can affored sandblasting use's heaps of air
makka

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Anonymous moderation means the agro that is built up towards the mods isn't aimed at an individual (fewer "Makk" attacks). Less stress for mods means less moderator "retirements".

If the CFM of the compressor exceeds the tools need then tank size is not important. It only becomes important when you draw more air than the compressor can supply, then you need the reserve of the tank and preferably the biggest tank you can get. Sand blasting is the largest user of air that I can think of and no cheap compressor is going to be adequate and it is just going to make a horrible job last longer. It all gets down to CFM supplied and used.

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Chris

Everything I like is either
illegal, immoral or fattening.

I used a 'poverty pack' compressor.....small 2 HP 25L job.... Paint finish is great....I am VERY PLEASED with it.

IMHO, the difference between a baby compressor, and say a 2.5 HP 50L job is that the motor on the small one will cut in more, to maintain your pressure, thus burn out quicker. The guys in the tool shop said I wouldn't spray my whole car before it burns out....well I sprayed the whole car, sand blasted a heap of stuff, and use it almost daily for cleaning. It's fine.

I believe the secret to a great paint job lies in a few things.....

1. Quality paint. Buy PPG brand paint. I have sprayed a few brands and believe this is the best.

2. Spend money on a good spray gun. How the paint comes out of the gun determines the finish.....don't be a tight ass with your gun. I used an HVLP gravity gun, and swear by it. I have used other guns in the past, but the HVLP was far superior.

3. Spraying technique determins finish. Goes without saying really......Read up on how to move the gun around, how to mix your paint, how much to put on per coat

4. Ask questions on PAINT FORUMS, use Google, talk to pro's at a panel shop / paint shop etc..... I did all this, over maybe 4 months, before picking up my spray gun.

5. PRACTICE



At times my wife gets sh!tty, not only with the mess I make, but the hours spent in the garage with 'my other wife'. It wasn't a marraige wrecking job, but having a somewhat patient partner does help.

Overall I chose to paint my own resto because I simply didn't have the $$$ to hand over to a panel beater. When I show it, I will be proud of what I achieved.....but the next one will be sprayed by a pro

Hope my ramblings help you.......

So what typically, is the greediest tool?

Grinder and other high speed tools?

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"Life is not like a box of chocolates... it's more like a jar of jalapenos. Whatever you do today, may burn your arse tomorrow."

you would think that, but all the air has to do is turn a spindle, with good bearings....

I reckon sand blasting would be the greediest....

Grinder does take a bit of air at 24,000 rpm, but I agree blaster takes lots more. Closely followed by HP spray guns..

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

my 2c
ok tank size does matter
and there is one other important thing for a "pro" finish that no one has mentioned yet
the drive line. When spaypainting idealy u want a large tank being filled by a BELT driven pump. Difference is
Small tank + direct drive pump = pump has to work alot, when direct drive pumps heat up they heat up the compressed air aswel which = crap finish
Small tank + belt drive pump (hard to find) = air won't heat up asmuch but compressor still has to work alot = better but still not great finish
big tank (50L or more) + direct drive pump (prob 2.5 - 3 hp) = air stays much lower and even temperature, pump doesn't have to work as hard so pressure and life of pump is better which ofcoarse = "pro" finish
this ofcourse is presuming u know the proper way to spray the gun, prime body, ect ect

btw helpful hint locate your pressure regulator a meter or more away from the pump to help with pressure/ temp/ quality and always drain the water outta ur compressor before u start spraying

Allards out at Fyshwick are Mini friendley paint suppliers...

Fisher Discounts at Fyshwick have good quality stuff....and there is a CIG Gas place out there (name escapes me - check your junkmail) that is just a terrific toy shop for all manner of compressor and engineering thingame's ...Cheers, Mick

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"Show me the Mini!"

Big is best

I use a 16cfm with 50lt tank.

If you run directly from the compressor you get a air pulse as the compressor releases the newly squeezed gas, it's this, heat and moisture that a tank is there to moderate. It acts as a big capacitor to store and release while smoothing the whole process.

I have seen people using car and truck wheels to act as the reservoir (tank)

"Santa" bought me a very nice HVLP gravity feed gun for Christmas!
(It helps when I left details of the model I wanted laying around!)

I'm looking forward to trying it out.

I actually sprayed one panel on my van with a Wagner HVLP tankless spray gun - one of those things like a vacuum cleaner. I defy anyone to pick which panel was sprayed with the Wagner - the finish was excellent and I'm no expert sprayer.

_________________
Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

Have a look at this link. It explains how compressors are rated fpr retail sale in this country and the pitfalls of this rating.

http://www.capsaust.com.au/news/archive ... ot_hp.html

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Chris

Everything I like is either
illegal, immoral or fattening.