Air Compressor
 

I will be doing some body work to my Protege pretty soon and I'm thinking about repainting the whole thing myself. I will eventually be painting my FC3S as well once I throw in a turbo and get the vented hood and a body kit.

Question:

Can anyone recommend a good air compressor? I will need it for painting, but it would be nice if it could be strong enough to support air tools as well. I'm currently a student so budget is a little tight. What kind of capacity should I be going for and should I go for oiled or non-oiled? It would be nice if some of the Canadian guys could recommend one I could get locally or if someone could recommend one I could get off of Ebay.

Thanks.

For painting you need at least 14 CFM and a good sized tank (40 gallon or larger). That means a 5 HP compressor, typically two or more cylinder, 240V, and $1000. Plus you will need a good filter, desiccant dryer, and large compressors don't come with regulators so you'll need to add one of those as well.

Princess Auto would be the place to check. If memory serves, they have some large compressors on sale right now.

Be careful buying used. Bad pumps are common, plus older used compressors may need more power than you can supply or accessories like magnetic starters. I'd also be very squeamish about any 20+ year old compressor tank. They rust from the inside out...

Cheapest compressor I found when looking for one to paint my car was a harbor freight 60 gal 5hp does like 16cfm $800 I think. I ended up going with a 60g 5hp ingersolrand it does 15cfm and cost me 1300 after taxes you will need a good filter which cost around 3-5 and a bunch of other crap. If you are trying to save money you are better off searching around for a painter on the side.