Hello everyone. This is my first post here. I would appreciate your input and opinions as to whether spending the required money for good auto body and paint tools would be worthwhile for me. I've been doing mechanical work and woodworking long enough to know cheap tools are not a good deal. Thus, I understand I must spend some serious money for good auto body tools. I would like to learn auto body and paint. And I'd like to paint my car myself. But I'm not sure if I should spend that much money on tools, or just pay someone to paint my car.

I'm currently restoring 1970 Mustang Mach 1. Thus far I have done almost everything myself to include:

- Disassembled the car
- Had it media blasted to bare metal
- Replaced multiple rusted panels
- Shot on two coats of ********** epoxy primer
- Installed new rear leaf springs and a rebuilt differential
- Installed most of the new, front suspension

I was leaning towards having my car painted at a shop. But today I was at my Mustang club birthday celebration and I talked to the owner of a 1970 Mustang Boss 302. He had just painted the car himself in his garage. I though it looked great! It's just what I want: a very nice "driver" paint job.

Thus, I am now considering painting my Mustang myself. I have a small compressor that worked for the epoxy primer, but it's not up to the job of painting a car. I don't have a problem with dropping just over $1,000 for a new compressor. But I'm not sure about the cost of all the other tools I'll need. By the time I'm done buying a nice gun and other assorted tools, will I have spent enough to just have the car painted by a reputable shop? I'm thinking not since a good paint job in my area can be $6,000 to $10,000. But I admit, I don't know. So, what do you guys think?

Thanks in advance!

I've been doing a lot of research on air compressors. I keep coming back to this compressor:

http://www.autobody101.com/store/air-co ... v-1-phase/

The 80 gallon tank is only a little more money. But I'm not sure I've got adequate room for it in my garage. Would the extra 20 gallons of tank capacity do much for me?

I've seen less expensive compressors. But as I mentioned, I learned long ago cheaper tools typically aren't a good deal. The Quincy models are slightly more expensive, but probably more than I need. That's why I keep coming back to the I/R. Looks like this web site has the best price on it as well.

Klutch -
That compressor should work - it's rated for continuous duty, and 15scfm should be enough for a good spray gun running a compliant cap (such as the DeVilbiss Tekna Copper or ProLite, Sata 4000 RP, etc.), which may be OK depending on where you live.
I would think if you are building a home shop to paint in, it will run you north of 3 grand to set up, not including the compressor! You will need 1 or 2 spray guns, compressed air filtration (oil and water separation, desiccant dryer), hoses, piping (not PVC!!!), fans and "booth" filtration, D/A and buffer, paint and clear, solvent for cleaning, etc.
Keep in mind that this is all capital cost, and doesn't take into account what your time is worth while you provide the labor to purchase and set it all up!

Klutch,
The question you need to answer is: Will this be the only car you ever paint?
Setting up a shop for one paint job isn't cost effective.
As you stated, the proper tools and set up are the right way to go but they are expensive.
I wrote the this article to help people like yourself make an informed decision when it comes to painting their own vehicle: http://www.autobody101.com/content/arti ... ould-know/

Thanks for the replies.

Right now my objective is to paint my Mach 1. I would like to paint other cars. But that future is kind of nebulous. Maybe I'll just haul my rolling chassis to a local shop recommended by a friend. Maybe their estimate will be reasonable. Or, maybe it will convince me to build my own paint shop!

Nice article, '68 Coronet R/T!

with the trusty old internet, you should be able to get some "reasonable" gear to get you started at a pretty good price, my compressor is a 3hp 17cfm 3cyl item, picked it up for $680 around 8yrs ago and hasn't faulted me since, it will run a d/a, diegrinder with ease, think it has 320 or 350 l/pm free air delivery, and is super quiet.
my primer gun ia a workquip brand, was around $100 and came with 3 tips, 1.4, 1.8 and 2.5mm, altho I use it for primers only, it would still paint base and clears ok, wouldn't produce a show car but will still make a nice daily driver, air d/a sanders are reasonably cheap, mine was only $40 and goes well, wouldn't use it for final sand tho as its a bit too coarse but for stripping off paint and general feathering its awesome, my orbi sander is awesome, a metabo brand, has 2 orb diameter settings, coarse and fine, hooks upto my elcheapo shopvac for dustless sading, orbi was $380 (and came with a bonus detail sander worth $140) and shp vac was $80,
sanding blocks are really cheap now, around $60 gets you a small set of durablocks, panel beating kits can be had for around $150 for something reasonable, and you can make your own slappers from old leaf springs or files, a sundstrom respirator is a must and can be had for around $120,
you could save by buying 2nd hand items and shopping around, try markets and flea stalls, swap meets,
I would say you could get enough gear to start you off for around $1500, borrow or hire somestuff if you can,
after you paint your car, then maybe a bike or 3, if you get good at it and enjoy it, then you can add to your tools as you need, if you do some "cashies" on the side, put some of that money away to upgrade some of your gear, that's wat I have done for the last 8ys or so, (having an awesome mrs who's father used to run a panel shop and knows that cheap tools don't last real long helps) (oh and the fact she is into restoring motorbikes sorta makes me think she has a secret agenda on me buying tools too )
I got into panel and paint by no being able to afford to pay some1 to paint my car, I gave it a go myself and have never looked back, my tools have now paid for themselves many times over, not only from "cash jobs" but the $$ I have saved from the many cars I have done for myself,
if youplan on keeping the car forever, maybe get a shop to paint it for you, but if you "plan" on buying another project that you have "dreamt" about, its probably a good idea to give it a shot yourself, that way the next 1 will be better and also cheaper, heck, if you do a crap job and give up and take it to a shop, you can always sell the gear you bought to recoup some of the outlay!!
krem

Thanks for your message, Krem.

Not sure how things are in Oz, but here in Colorado, buying used tools is tough. Very few good tools come up for sale. When they do, they are typically priced at $5.00 below full retail. Sure, there are some good deals to be had. But they are few and far between. I have been cruising my local Craigslist, but nothing impressive has come up.

I'm going to be using my blasting cabinet a lot to finish my Mustang project. Right now, my poor compressor begs for mercy every time I blast something. So, maybe investing in a good compressor will be worthwhile whether I paint or not. And a good compressor should last me a very long time. After that, maybe I can pick up some used tools. I'll keep checking and I'll keep thinking about it.

Thanks again for your input, everyone.