Going to buy a hvlp gun and do this right, do you guys know if this compressor is good for small jobs like panel/hood/wheel painting? http://m.homedepot.com/p/Husky-20-Gal-1 ... /206189626 could i put an extra tank on it to double the tank size?

You should look at the specs for the spray gun you are wanting to purchase. It will tell you how much air (CFM or SCFM) that the gun needs at a certain air pressure (PSI).

Let's just use the following for an example:
Iwata LPH400 HVLP

Air pressure = 16 PSI
Air consumption = 9.5 CFM

In order for this gun to operate properly your compressor will need to produce a minimum of 10 CFM at 16 PSI. Generally it is suggested that your compressor puts out more than the minimum so that it doesn't have to run so often which produces moisture and heat.

Personally, I feel a minimum size compressor for a one man shop would be able to produce 15 CFM at 90 PSI. These will usually come with an 80 gallon tank for more reserve capacity and you are looking at 5hp or larger to get that output.

With a larger compressor you can run a DA and other pneumatic tools as well.

Yep, 15 cfm and 80 gallon minimum here as well. Any wood shops we own or set up we like to see 27 to 30 cfm units so they can run at least a couple of tools or more at a time.

Surprised it didn't hold up on wheels. I've spray bombed wheels in the past and they've all lasted just fine.

Of course my prep work was done to professional standards. Saying that yours were chipping makes me think they weren't sanded well enough. Last wheels I spray painted I did in 2012 and the wheels were perfect when I sold the car in 2015.

I had my Evo wheels powdercoated and did not like the color. Basically looked like baby poop and I was going for gold. I just scuffed them good with red scuff pad and spray canned them gold.

As a matter of fact here are the pictures I used when selling it.

You can get by with a compressor of that size if you are doing small stuff. Especially if you are using a detail gun.

I am currently using a DeWalt D55168. It only produces 5.0 SCFM at 90PSI. But it charges the tank up to 200 PSI. It will run a detail gun (Iwata LPH-80) continiously, and a full sized gun (Tekna Pro Lite) just fine for motorcycle parts. But I would not try and spray a whole car.


Compressor - $300
Decent Gun - $400
Air filter/regulator - $200
Hoses and fittings - $100

Yeah, it gets expensive fast.

Thanks guys for all the replies, i took everything to heart and i ended up going with this compressor http://m.homedepot.com/p/Husky-60-Gal-S ... /205389936 anyone have any good recommendations for a spray gun? I really do like everything on my car painted so i dont want to cheap out on anything from this point on, but i also dont want to overpay at the same time.